Space Cadet
by A Concerned Individual
Summary: Typical fluffyluffy story with a very cliche twist. Skrawl and his cranial comrades are out to wreak doom on the creator, and they know just how to get through to him... R x P
1. Detention for One

Space Cadet

A/N - My first ChalkZone fanfic. Obviously Rudy/Penny, because it's my favorite Nickelodeon (actually, my favorite cartoon) pairing. Romance doesn't really become a genre until Chapter 8, unless you count Rudy's little musings about his best friend. 

Chapter 1 – Detention for One 

2:12 PM. The school day was almost over. Only one more hour to endure. Mr. Wilter stood at the front of the class, blabbing about something or another. Nobody with the exception of Penny was actually paying attention. 

"Good news, class. 67 percent of you passed the math exam. That's way more than any of us expected, I'm sure. Personally, I wonder how some of you managed to cough up more than a fifty, especially those constantly wasting their time with _cartoons_. Yes, Mr. Tabootie, I AM addressing you in particular. Mr. Tabootie?"

"_Rudy_!" Penny hissed silently, trying to get his attention. Oblivious to the world around him, the boy remained indifferent, doodling on his homework without a care in the world.

"Mr. Tabootie?!"

Rudy finally snapped out of his subconscious daydream, his pencil falling to his desk with a clatter. "Huh? What?"

"You should've been paying more attention, Tabootie!" Reggie exclaimed indignantly, always looking for more ways to get him into trouble. Rudy ignored him entirely, leaned on his elbow and looked up at the teacher. He had run out of excuses long ago. 

"Detention again?" He asked warily.

"You can bet your barely-passing grade on it." Mr. Wilter responded, and shoved a blue slip in Rudy's face. "I'll see YOU after school. Again."

"Great." The boy mumbled, hardly caring anymore. He had been zoning out a lot during class lately. More than usual, anyway. With a sigh, he glanced down at his homework, covered from top to bottom in mindless doodles. Before erasing them (knowing how Mr. Wilter hated cartoons), he studied the drawings and writing more carefully, as he had been off in another world when he had put them down on paper. A few letters in particular caught his eye.

_'R + P?'_ He thought, confused. _'What's that stand for? Why'd I write THAT?'_

He searched his brain for the answer, but he turned up nothing except a bunch of random nonsense. Red Poodles? Nah, too weird. Rambunctious Pinecones? No, WAY too weird. Rusty Pencils?  

_'How exactly does my subconscious work again?'_

He gave up on that thought and erased the doodles mercilessly, making several small holes in his crumpled paper. It made him wonder where all the erased pencil drawings went. GraphiteZone? LeadZone? PaperZone? PencilZone?

And you wondered what utterly ridiculous things he thought about.

Penny watched him, almost worriedly. If he kept spacing out during class, they'd keep him in detention for the rest of his life. She'd come to recognize the dazed, otherworldly look in his eyes lately. He'd been getting it a lot.

A loud _BRIIIINNNNNNNNNNG_ interrupted her thoughts. 

"Well, class, there's the bell. Be back in five minutes sharp. Gosh, I hate these student breaks… What were they thinking?" Mr. Wilter rambled, and sat down at his desk to grade papers as his pupils all exploded out the doorway. Only two remained.

"Hey, Rudy." Penny greeted as casually as possible. She got a mumble as a response. "What's wrong?"

"Me, apparently." He pointed to the blue detention slip. "Do you know how many of these I've gotten lately? Mr. Wilter's out to get me."

"On the contrary, I think he has perfectly good reason for getting on your case." Penny disagreed, taking a seat next to him. "What've you been thinking about? You keep… drifting off into some other world." She lowered her voice so Mr. Wilter couldn't hear. "And it's not ChalkZone."

"I know that. And as for what I think about, I… can't tell you." His voice trailed off near the end of the phrase. 

"You can tell me. I'm your friend."

"You don't understand, Penny."

"Seriously. I won't tell anyone else. I promise."

"But, I can't… You… Just, no." He shrunk back in his seat, burying his head in his arms to conceal the blush that was spreading across his cheeks. He was hoping that she'd leave him alone, but of course, she did nothing of the sort.

"Is there something wrong? At home? In… you know?"

"I'm fine. Really."

"You sure?"

"Absolutely."

"_Totally_ sure?"

"Completely, alright? You know I hardly pay attention anyway. Why is it so surprising this ONE time?" 

"You're acting different." She persisted.

"No I'm not!" And he continued to contradict.

"Yes you are, and don't deny it. What's the problem?"

"I told you already! NO problem." He assured her. Not quite believing him, Penny studied his face briefly. Rudy had always been a terrible liar, it showed right through his eyes. Unfortunately, she had trouble even seeing his green orbs, for he had his head lowered to face the desk. 

There was definitely something different. "All right, don't even bother trying to convince me otherwise. There's something strange going on here." Penny felt a pang of triumph as Rudy sighed in defeat. He knew she'd caught his bluff.  "Whatever it is, can you tell Snap about it?"

Rudy hesitated. "Erm… I think he knows already. Really, though, Penny, I'm perfectly ok."

Penny stared at him, baffled. "If you say so, Rudy."

She reclaimed her seat at the front of the room, still wondering about a problem that was possibly nonexistent. Then again, if she could come up with a formula for perpetual motion, she could figure out a simple issue with her friend… even if it was none of her business. But she had a right to be nosey, after all, she was his best friend and she wanted to be the first to know if he was having an issue.

As soon as her gaze returned to her books, it was Rudy's turn to look up at her, wondering if she had the slightest idea of his increasing infatuation. Snap knew, no doubt about it, and it annoyed the drawing to no end. Snap knew that when Penny was around, Rudy was too easily distracted. And in ChalkZone the last thing you need is a short attention span.

The bell rang and the kids came flooding back in. Rudy sighed, picked up his pencil, and decided to at least get SOMETHING done.

* * *

5:00, PM. The school was just about empty. The teachers had left, as had the students – all except one. 

Rudy's detention had ended about 10 minutes ago. Once Mr. Wilter had gone, he checked the whole school for anyone else who might've had the lack of brain to stick around. No one else remained, not even the janitor.

The tan-haired boy stood in front of the chalkboard, rummaging around in his pockets for "White Lightning"- in other words, the magic chalk. As soon as the circle was drawn, the inside became a portal, and through it Rudy could see a whole other world. He glanced down through the portal. Five feet to the ground, just low enough to jump. 

"Snap?" He called out. The chalk drawing always seemed to be around no matter where Rudy ended up…

…And, as usual, Snap just happened to be standing ten feet away, riding on a chalk horse with a sneaker for a head. 

"Hey, bucko. About time. What took you so long?"

Rudy took a deep breath before flopping down on the chalky grass. It wasn't as comforting as real grass, but he welcomed any sort of relaxation after an especially long day at school. "I got another detention. My fifth this week, actually, and it's only Tuesday."

"I'm glad ChalkZone doesn't have school." Snap replied. "You up for a little ridin'? I found this fine Horseshoe down by the Amazin' River… There's a whole herd of 'em, I think."

"No thanks, Snap. Actually, I came to ChalkZone just to talk."

"Just to talk? Why can't you just call Penny?" Snap asked without thinking. "Not that anyone'd actually prefer to talk to that _girl_ over me…"

Rudy sat up, peeved about his creation's sudden display of ego. "_Snap!_ …Anyway, uh… I couldn't talk to her."

"Why not?"

"Because… Well, um… Say, how are things going with Queen Rapsheeba?"

"A little off-topic for you to ask, but…" Snap's eyes glazed over (as well as they could being made of chalk) as he thought about her. "I think things are going… well. Yes. Very. I took her to the Fireplug Ballet. She loved it!"

"Fireplug Ballet?" Rudy had never heard Snap mention that before. There were all kinds of ChalkZone events he'd still never heard of.

"Looks like I'll have to show you, too." Snap noted. "Is that all you wanted to talk about, bucko?" 

"Err…. Not really. See, uh… Uhhhhh…" All at once, Rudy's mind went blank. He'd come to Snap to talk about his problems many times already (although Snap never really had any reasonable solutions), but this was different. To make things weirder, he knew Snap and Penny never got along very well. "It's… kind of strange actually…" 

Snap sighed in annoyance. Did Rudy really take him to be that dense? "This is about Penny, isn't it?" He groaned. "Come on. How stupid do you think I am?"

"You're good at this."

"I've known you longer than _she_ has."

"Come on, Snap!" Rudy begged. "I know you don't like her that much, but… I need you to help me! Please!"

"Help you what?"

"I… I really don't know." Rudy responded, his voice wavering a little bit. "But it's like… I can't talk to Penny anymore. Whenever I try to say something, I either end up sounding like a moron or… It's just… I…"

Snap laughed this time, shaking his head sympathetically. "Time to face the music, Rudy. You came to me for advice."

"I suppose." Rudy consented.

"YOU came to ME for ADVICE."

"We've got that straight now, I think."

"I'm sorry!" Snap exclaimed, starting to chuckle. "I just can't get over the fact that the all-powerful 'Great Creator' came to ME… for LOVE advice of all things! It's… hilarious! And I don't even know why!" 

Rudy hadn't been expecting this kind of response from one of his best friends. He knew Penny wouldn't have laughed if it had been her he'd asked for advice… But in the given situation, such a thing was quite out of the question. _'Oh, yeah. That's the smartest thing I've ever done. Ask SNAP for help. Maybe THIS is why he annoys Penny so much.' _

"It's not funny! I'm serious!" He growled, one of his eyes starting to twitch.

His drawing thought otherwise. He fell off the Horseshoe, laughing uncontrollably at his friend's expense. Rudy, now very annoyed, turned around and headed for the portal.

"I don't know WHY I chose to ask YOU." He grumbled, already drawing the ladder so he could reach the portal. Snap ran over to him, panting, partly from exhaustion and partly from laughing.

"Rudy, wait! Come on, bucko, lighten up. I've been waiting for you all day."

Rudy put the chalk away. "I'm listening."

"Why don't you just TELL Penny how you feel about her?"

The boy spun around to face Snap. "I never said THAT!" He exclaimed, starting to blush again. Snap held in more laughter as he continued.

"It's true, though, isn't it? What kind of idiot dya take me for, anyway? Anyone with eyes and a halfway-functional brain can see you've got a crush on her."

Rudy sighed in defeat. "Ok, you win. But am I really that obvious?"

"Let me put it this way: It's written all over your face. In fact, I betcha the only one who doesn't seem to realize it is Penny herself. Cliché, huh?"

"You got that right, unfortunately. And… you know, I should be leaving now. I have to get home right away! My mom wanted me home directly after my detention." Rudy sighed, thinking of the long walk ahead. "I could get home so much faster if I knew where my home chalkboard was… It's times like this I wish Penny were here." 

"So do I. I've got interesting news for her."

"_Snap!_"

"Kidding!"

Rudy climbed through the portal, which disappeared seconds afterwards. Snap stood there, alone again. His Horseshoe had run off already, and he was too wiped out to go back to the Amazin' River and ride another one. Instead, he laid down in the grass, staring up at the chalky sky. 

"He shoulda told her already. This is getting ridiculous. I mean, I guess he's kind of a shy kid and all, but I bet he'd be a lot happier if he just faced the facts once in a while."

"Who?"

Blocky walked up to Snap, confused. Snap realized he had been talking aloud and sighed.

"Rudy. Don't tell him I said it, but he's pathetic. He can't even tell the girl he likes exactly how he feels."

"Neither can you." Blocky replied without thinking. 

"Me?! Who are you kiddin'?" Snap demanded quickly, then tried to change the subject. "Besides, we're talking about Rudy's inability to confess certain things, not mine, remember?"

Blocky had never really been the sharpest tool in the shed, but you'd have to have the IQ of a rock if you weren't yet aware of Snap's crush on Queen Rapsheeba. "I just said it because it's true-" He pointed out.

An irritable Snap shot him a sullen look. "Well, stop it." 

* * *

A/N: The Shoehorses are named such because of ChalkZone's obsession with doing things like that, you know, like the palm trees in "The Smooch". 


	2. Resistance is Futile

Space Cadet 

A/N - Woah. Five reviews, all at once. Spifftastic. By the way, half the reason I created this fic is so maybe OTHER people would write Rudy/Penny fics, cuz it's no fun reading my own! ;_; Ah well. I'm warning you right now, this chapter is mostly just about Snap trying to convince Rudy, so it might get a little repetitive. Oh well, I can't change the way my twisted mind works. 

Chapter 2 – Resistance is Futile****

11-year old Penny Sanchez sat in front of her chalkboard, which, for some reason, she had chosen as a good spot to think. Almost unmoving, she pondered the same question over and over, and as smart as she was, she couldn't seem to understand.

_'What's going on with Rudy?'_

She had tried to call him earlier, but he hadn't answered. Well, someone had, but as soon as she announced her name they hung up. She knew he was a little shy and withdrawn, but never like this. Now he stuttered a lot, was never the one to start a conversation between them, and whenever they did talk, he'd turn away at brief intervals as if he was hiding something. In the very back of her mind, she had a vague suspicion that she knew what was going on, but her common sense denied it. The changes she noticed might've seemed minor, but to someone who knew him so well, she could easily tell there was something different with him… not necessarily _wrong_, but… 

"That's it! I can't take this anymore. I'm asking Snap, right now!"

Penny grabbed her bookbag, which was lying on the ground a few feet away. She dug through its contents until her fingers closed around something she hadn't told anyone about. When Rudy was accused of finding the secret to 'perpetual energy', she had to use the chalk herself to get him out of his mess- and had kept the chalk ever since then in case she ever needed to use it again.

Arm trembling, she pressed the chalk against the chalkboard, wondering where she'd end up. She knew every chalkboard in the real world corresponded with an exact spot in ChalkZone, and for all she knew the chalkboard in her room could be fifty feet above the Mumbo Jumbo Jungle! 

She tried not to think about that as she drew the portal. As it revealed the vibrant world behind it, Penny looked around.  She didn't recognize the spot, but it wasn't more than 2 or 3 feet above ground. Sighing in relief, she climbed inside, and erased the portal behind her.

"SNAP?"

Her voice echoed for about 9 seconds afterwards. Then all was silent again.

"Where is everyone?" She asked herself quietly, glancing around in awe. It was quiet… Too quiet. ChalkZone was NEVER quiet! Whenever she came with Rudy, it was nothing but ear-splitting hubbub and… well, maybe it was never really all that loud, but in comparison…

"HELLO?!"

Her voice bounced back at her in seven different tones. 

"This is very strange… But… it's probably just an uncharted area. Nothing to get worried abou-"

That was all she could say before someone grabbed her behind, and clamped a chalky hand over her mouth.

"I was opting for Master Tabootie, but you'll work just as well."

* * *

Elsewhere in ChalkZone, Rudy sat on the steps of some random chalk building. ChalkDad swept the area around his feet, to no avail since they were, after all, in a world MADE of dust. Snap sat beside his friend, enjoying some ice cream that the great creator had so generously supplied him with [after many minutes of begging, of course].

"How am I supposed to tell her, Snap? I've never done this before. I don't think I can. It should be easy, I mean it's just a few little words, but for some reason whenever I try to talk to her I go all blank and say the first things that come to mind, no matter how stupid! I feel like I'm making a fool out of myself! I mean, I know I should probably wait a while in case she thinks I'm psychotic or something… It's really no big deal… "

"Whatever you say." Snap sighed. "No big deal, yeah right! You've done nothing but ramble on about Penny ever since… Well, ever since I forced the truth outta ya. Maybe that was a mistake…"

"Perhaps. Anyway, I've been thinking about what to do for the past few days… I can't go on like this. She suspects something, which is good in a way because it won't be a big surprise whenever I do tell her, if I ever do at all, and…" He caught a glance of his friend's face.  "Aaaam I annoying you?"

"Naw, of course not! I just love listening to you babble on and on feeling sorry for yourself and all that… I can't think of ANYTHING in the whole zone that I'd rather do."

"Just making sure. Like I was saying, I can't continue this. If I hide it from her any longer, soon I won't be able to speak to her at all! And-"

"Rudy, I was being sarcastic. Think we could talk about something else? On this particular topic, it seems like you're speaking too much to me and not enough to her."

"Oh… yeah, sure." Rudy flushed as he finally noticed Snap's annoyance. _'Oh yes, I'm really making the greatest impressions on my friends lately…'_

"Got any more detentions?"

"Since when?"

"Since I last saw you… a few… hours… ago. Right. You wouldn't go to school again in the same day… my bad…" Snap laughed nervously as he desperately tried to find something else to converse about that would hold both of their attention… and most importantly, keep off the subject of Penny, which would only bore him further.

"Penny never got detention." Rudy murmured subconsciously.

Snap shook his head. He wanted to grab his friend by the shoulders, shake him vigorously, and yell 'TELL HER ALREADY!' in his face, but that would only draw attention to them. Instead, he spoke calmly, but still with an irritated hint to his voice. "I feel like I've lost ya, bucko. No matter what, you won't stop talking about her. And I don't think you ever will until you just get it off your chest."

Rudy stared down at the ground. "You're right, Snap."

"I am?" The blue boy looked confused for a brief instant, before regaining his indignant disposition. "I mean, of course I am."

"I should just tell her and get it over with!" Rudy rose to his feet, gazing off into the distance with determination. 

"That's the spirit!" Snap egged him on…

…And Rudy continued. "In fact, I think I'll call her right now and just confess it all!"

"Do that!" The drawing cheered.

"I will!" Rudy had his fist raised high in the air.

"…Really?"

The response was blunt and firm. "NO!" 

Rudy fell back on the stairs, glaring at the sky, not sure what exactly he was angry with anyway. "Things like this can't be done on such short notice. Girls like dramatic stuff. Stuff that other people think is sappy."

"Where'd you get that idea?"

"Romance movies… NOT that I watch them voluntarily, of course. My mom likes them, and whenever she goes to the theatre to watch one, she drags me along." 

"Movies? Geez, Rudy. You shouldn't resort to asking _those_ things for help." Snap replied, half-groaning. "Listen, this whole ordeal… I don't want to say that it's grinding my last nerve, but… Rudy, it's grinding my last nerve. I'm starting to think you'll never work up the guts." He paused. "What… you're not chicken, are you?"

"That won't work on me, Snap. I don't have an ego big enough for you to taunt."

_'Yeesh. He's a tough one to crack.'_ The blue drawing looked down at his gloves, smeared with the ice cream which he didn't even remember finishing. He had been too deeply absorbed in Rudy's problems. "If you don't tell her soon, I'll tell her for you!" He finally announced, knowing it would get Rudy's attention. 

The boy's head snapped up, his eyes widened in shock. "NO!" He exclaimed, waving both hands in a definite 'no' gesture. "You can't tell her!"

"Well, _you_ obviously aren't going to anytime soon…" Snap picked up an imaginary phone for emphasis. "Hello, Penny? It's Snap. I just called to tell you that a certain chalk-wielding friend of mine named _Rudolph Bartholomew Tabootie_ happens to have an enormous cr-"

"You don't even know her phone number!" Rudy seethed. "In fact, I doubt ChalkZone phones even REACH the real world!"

This didn't seem to bother Snap too much. "Well, then, I'll tell her the next time I see her. And believe me, I will!"

Rudy cringed in defeat. "All right, all right, fine, I'll tell her… But… Give me a month or two!"

"I was thinking more along the lines of weeks, pal."

"WHAT?"

"Hey, this shoulda happened days ago… I'm cuttin' you some slack, here. In the meantime, I think you two should make up for all the lost time. Why don't you invite her here now?"

"I thought you didn't like Penny being around… I was always under the impression that…"

"She annoyed me? Well, you're right about that. But the affair at stake is one that we don't see a lot of in ChalkZone, and I don't want to miss a single minute!"

Rudy rolled his eyes. Why he had drawn Snap with a mouth suddenly baffled him. "You're really nosy, you know, Snap?" He grumbled.

"What are you talking about? You drew me without one."


	3. Penniless

Space Cadet

A/N: I'm actually semi-pleased with this fic. You know what that means? Expect to see more of it. Yay! Anyway, because I write way too many A/Ns, I'm going to try and cut back. Double yay! Also, this chapter might be a little fuzzy, cuz I ain't no good at plots. Not yay! Oh well.

Chapter 3 – Penniless

Rudy sat by the phone, musing about the situation at hand. Something as simple as calling a friend- his _best_ friend- was becoming increasingly difficult. It was ridiculous.

_'What right does Snap think he has, poking into other peoples' personal matters?'_ He thought glumly, trying to postpone the call a little longer. _'I have to stay on track.'_ He reminded himself._ 'I can do this. If I can conceal the existence of a second dimension, surely I can call someone on the phone.'_

Trying to ignore what he was doing, Rudy dialed in her number as quickly as he could and waited. 

"Hello?"

Rudy let loose all the air built up in him. It wasn't Penny. "Mrs. Sanchez?" He asked, nervously. "It's Rudy. Uh… Is… Is… P-Pen…"

"Is Penny here? She's up in her room. Let me get her for you."

The boy sat in silence, waiting impatiently. He found a lump growing in his throat, and for a few seconds he was afraid he wouldn't be able to talk at all. What would he say? What _could_ he say? Why was he calling her again? Oh yes, invite her to ChalkZone. That seemed simple enough, right? I mean… he did it almost every day.

Finally, the phone was picked up again. Rudy held his breath. "Penny?"

"Sorry. She's not there. I don't know where she could be… huh. Should I take a message?"

"No… Could you just… have her call back when she gets home?"

"Sure. Bye, Rudy."

Rudy slammed the phone to the receiver, and slumped back against the wall. _'This isn't working out so well.'_

He walked back over to the portal to ChalkZone and shook his head to Snap, who watched him eagerly.

"She can't come?" He asked.

"Nope. She wasn't home. Her mom doesn't know where she is."

"Weird. Ah well, Rudy… You know, we could always do something without her." Snap suddenly acquired a sly smile. "Hows about… You draw me another ice cream, and we can work up from there."

"SNAP!" Rudy scolded for about the third time that day. Snap shrugged.

"Whaaaat? In ChalkZone, food's not all that easy to come by, you know? Kids like drawing characters more than they do food. The result? Population up, food supply down."

"World hunger in ChalkZone." Rudy mused. "All right, Snap, I'll draw you something… but no ice cream."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not on great terms with me right now."

"Huh? Why?"

* * *

Penny rubbed her head, moaning. The events of earlier that day came flooding back to her all at once, although she dismissed it all off as a mid-day nightmare. Yeah, she was probably still in her room, leaning with her back to the bed, just waking up…

"That was some dream. I wonder-"

She glanced around, realizing with a gasp that she wasn't in her bedroom. In fact, she didn't recognize the place at all. She knew it was ChalkZone though, just from observing the texture on the walls and floors.

'What's going on?' She tried to get up, but her ankles were bound with some kind of weird rope. Her heartbeat increased threefold in nothing flat as she recognized her situation.

"Am I… being held hostage?" It was more of a doomed statement than a question.

She rubbed her eyes and looked around, praying that she was still dreaming. As her eyes adjusted to the light, she was able to see the room a little better. It was metallic… well, as metallic as chalk can get. The only door was steel and voice-activated, she could tell by the little sound box on the wall beside it.

Actually… as she continued to inspect the room, she discovered she wasn't alone. 

"How are you doing, little genius girl? Do you remember me?" Skrawl asked, taking a step out of the shadows and into the light. Penny sighed, more annoyed than frightened now. _'I should've known…'_

"Oh, everything's hunky-dory." She replied, glowering at the giant jellybean. "What do YOU want?"

"Haven't you figured out my ingenious plan?" He demanded. "I overestimated your intelligence, apparently, for it's really very simple… Anyway, I felt like getting back at that jerk, Tabootie. I was actually going to eliminate him to start with, but I couldn't find him and kidnapping his girlfriend works just as well. I'm actually killing two _nerds_ with one stone!"

"First of all, that was a _horrible_ pun. Secondly… I'm _not_ his girlfriend. Thirdly, Rudy _will _outsmart you, just like he did the first time. He still has the advantage, you know."

Skrawl smiled, which only brought more exposure to his crooked, mismatched teeth. No wonder he wanted revenge. "Well, if I'm correct, the only thing that he has that gives him the SLIGHTEST chance of defeating me is his magic chalk… And what do you know; you had some with you too… And look how well you defended yourself! I don't expect him to be any more difficult."

Penny struggled with the rope that bound her ankles, but it wouldn't budge. "What would you gain by, in your terms, 'eliminating' us?" She asked calmly, trying to avoid a nervous breakdown, which was exactly what she didn't need. 

Skrawl stood there awkwardly. "Uh… erm… Well, I don't _need_ a reason!" He finally snapped. "Bad guys don't need a reason, especially for revenge, which is a good enough reward all in itself."

"You know, I think you should look on the bright side once in a while." Penny pointed out. "You aren't as ugly as Butch Biceps, right? You weren't created to spend your whole life in a bathtub like Granny. You're still more detailed than Blocky. And a lot of people like jellybeans!"

Skrawl's face shifted to a thoughtful look for a moment. "You know, I'm told I look more like a potato…"

"A lot of people like potatoes, too!"

 Skrawl shook his head. "But, you see, my dear girl, this isn't about _looks_. And anyway, I know you're only trying to raise my self-esteem in hopes that I might get all grateful and generous and release you just like that. Well, let me assure you, if you do happen to escape from my clutches, that _won't_ be the reason."  

They sat there in silence, unmoving. No one said a word for at least 20 seconds.

"Ok, I've captured you, now what?" Skrawl demanded, mostly to himself. "I feel… unaccomplished. My revenge feels hollow and boring. How shall I torture your underdeveloped human brain? Hmmm…"

Penny started to sweat, feeling a whole lotta pain coming on. "How about a nice, friendly game of checkers? Or… chess?" She asked, backing away from him as well as she could without using her legs. "It's competitive, and it's good for your intelligence."

"No, that doesn't feel _evil_ enough…" Skrawl tapped his foot on the ground, wondering what to do. "Oh well… The whole reason I did this was to eliminate Master Tabootie once and for all, and I doubt he even knows you're here… I'll soon change that." 

"How you gonna do that? Call him on the phone?" Penny retorted, unable to help herself. Skrawl looked offended for a few moments, obviously annoyed with her already… but of course he couldn't do anything about it if he still wanted live bait.

"NO!" He replied. Whatever happened to people who respected the villains? "You know, I could just forget about Tabootie and get rid of you now if I wanted to. You better watch your tongue."

"Sorry." She didn't mean it, of course.

"That's better – now, stay here like a good little hostage while I go find someone to spread word of your capture. The great creator will be along in a heartbeat, and then I'll finally get the chance to obliterate him."

Penny glared at him. "I doubt that. But if your plan works out, what'll become of me?"

"Oh, I'll destroy you both at the same time, that way your fates match." 

The girl looked away, face burning in anger. "I don't like the way your brain works."

"Yeah, well same to you."

Skrawl left the room. Penny sat there in silence, tears welling up in her eyes, but trying not to shed them. Rudy always got them out of any trouble… She wondered what made her think otherwise.

_'Of course Rudy'll come.'_ She thought, upset at herself for being so doubtful, but she was having trouble convincing her darker thoughts._ 'After all, he owes me… for faking his science project… when I covered for him when he went to go retrieve his cousin Sophie…' _

She shook her head to clear her mind. Was she… angry at him? No, she couldn't be. _'I can't blame him… it's not his fault that I went into ChalkZone to ask Snap about HIS well-being… It's… preposterous!'_

She leaned against the walls, staring up at the ceiling, wondering the source of all the strange thoughts that were starting to overtake her. 


	4. A Little Bird Told Me

Space Cadet

Chapter 4 – A Little Bird Told Me

Wednesday morning, an hour before school. Most boys at eleven would be playing video games… Well, actually, _most_ boys at eleven would probably still be asleep. But not Rudy. He'd been awake for at least three hours, trying to get back to sleep, but still contemplating something in his mind that he needed to confess.

He trudged downstairs, not particularly looking forward to breakfast. You have to remember his dad owns the place that makes cheeseburger smoothies and cinnamon hot dogs.

"Ruuuuuuuudy?" Mrs. Tabootie called out in that weird way that she did, making her sound like some kind of opera singer. Rudy, half-asleep and barely comprehending the things he was doing, entered the room, rubbing his eyes. "You don't have to yell; I'm right here."

"Goodness, Rudy, it looks like you haven't slept at all." She noted worriedly; there were visible bags under his eyes and his hair was disheveled and unkempt.  "Something been bothering you?"

"No… it's nothing."

"Regardless, you don't look well. Maybe you should stay home-"

"I'm fine!" He suddenly snapped, way more aggressively than he had meant. Everyone always asking him if he was alright… it was beginning to get irritating. He sank back in his seat, wondering if she'd scold him for his attitude. Luckily, she took his irritability for lack of sleep.

"Someone's a little cranky." Mildred mused in a tone she hadn't used on her son in years. "Maybe some breakfast will fix that-"

The phone's ring interrupted her. "Well, who in their right mind would call at 7:00 AM?" She wondered aloud. "Rudy, can you get that?"

"Sure, mom."

He walked over to the phone, still semi-conscious. "Hello?"

"Rudy?! Is that you?! Oh, please tell me you know where she is-" Came a hurried, panicky voice in the other end. Rudy, now fully awake, stared at the receiver, eyes wide. "Who?"

"Penny, of course! She's missing!"

"WHAT?!?" He exclaimed, so loud that someone's car alarm went off outside.

"Rudy, what's wrong?" His mother asked, also startled at his outburst. 

"Penny? She can't be missing!" He argued, mostly to convince himself, unintentionally answering Mildred's question. "Are you sure that you checked EVERYWHERE?"

"Yes! I was in such a hurry last night that I forgot to check on her, I assumed she came home already… but when I woke up this morning, I realized she was missing. I searched absolutely everywhere! I hoped she'd be over at your place. You're the first I thought to call."  

Rudy stared down at the counter, his eyes starting to hurt. He tried to speak, but he failed to find his voice. All at once, millions of horrible mental images flooded his mind, and he couldn't rid himself of them.

"Penny's… missing?" Mrs. Tabootie asked, eyes wide. Both women blabbed on for a while about how horrible it was, but Rudy was a different story. He stood there in silence, trying to think.

He couldn't remember much after that happened. Mrs. Tabootie took over the phone conversation while Rudy took some time to get a grip on reality. So mortified he was, he temporarily forgot to check in the one place the adults couldn't. 

* * *

"Woah… Well… I'm sorry, bucko, I, uh…" Snap tried not to show too much worry. "But, uh, if Penny was here, wouldn't she have to have magic chalk to get in?"

"She's had plenty of opportunities to get some for herself… I mean, if I was in her situation, I'd have done the same thing." Rudy sat on a giant blue rock beside Snap, his voice shaky and sounding as if he could burst out into sobs at any given moment. I'd say Snap was trying his best to calm his friend, but that'd be an overstatement. He was never a very emotional drawing, and wasn't really sure what to do in that particular situation.

"Maybe she's just lost." Snap suggested. "You know, ChalkZone doesn't go on indefinitely, but it's not exactly a small place either. If that's the case, we should go looking for her."

"We don't even know that she's in ChalkZone… What if she's been… I don't know, kidnapped in real life, by some psychotic maniac-"

"RUDY!" Snap grabbed his friend by the collar and shook him roughly. "You're thinking too hard! Besides, if she was in the real world when it happened, you're practically powerless to help her. Now, in ChalkZone, you're equipped with something that can defeat anything here. I think we should take our chances and assume she's here, right?"

Rudy stood up. "You're right, Snap. Let's go look. But-"

"No complaining."

"I'm not complaining! I'm just a little shaken-up… I still can't believe all this has happened. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I'm waiting until I wake up from this nightmare…"

"Well, if it is a dream, Rudy, then we're both havin' the exact some one right now. Come on. Draw something. A hang glider, perhaps. Binoculars would help. Or hows about-"

Snap paused. "You hear something?" He asked. Rudy shook his head.

_GUSSHAW._

Out from the grass stepped an odd chalk bird. Its head and neck were bright green and the rest of its body was light blue and black. It spoke in a nasal voice, emotionless and almost automatic.

"The great creator, Rudy Tabootie, I presume." It announced, blandly. "I've been sent from the Overlord Skrawl to inform you that your female counterpart has been taken hostage. If you want to save her, you'd best try your luck at the Dome of the Future. Skrawl wishes to see you again. He speaks of revenge…" The bird suddenly started to shake uncontrollably. "This message will now self-destruct."

There was a blinding white light and an explosion of blue and black feathers. Rudy and Snap shielded themselves as best they could, and when they looked back, there was nothing left of the chalk-bird but a small green egg. Eyes wide, they stared at each other in confusion.

"I've heard of those guys." Snap finally explained. "They're Messenger Birds, that's what they-"

"SNAP!" Rudy interrupted, starting to tremble. "It's Skrawl! He's got Penny!"

It took Snap a while to re-wind his thoughts for a while and think about what the bird had said. "Oh… _Ohhhhhh_!" 

"We've got to save her!" Rudy quickly drew them a two-person plane as Snap watched, still a bit confused.

"You know this is a trap, right?"

"Duh..." Rudy replied, hopping in the cockpit and drawing the controls, barely paying attention to Snap. "But there's no way I'm just abandoning Penny like that! Come on!"

"Something tells me I'm going to regret this, but…"

Snap climbed into the back of the plane, worried as to what would become of them. But he saw his friend was determined, and he wasn't going to interfere.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for not posting earlier. I had it on the back of my computer and just kept contradicting myself again and again… Le sigh.


	5. Arrival of the Fittest

Space Cadet

Chapter 5 – Arrival of the Fittest

All kinds of Zoners stopped in the streets to point out the small plane that lingered overhead. Rudy (whose constant worry was affecting his piloting) and a very nervous Snap were both twenty feet above ground level in that two-person aircraft, attracting a lot of attention. No one was quite sure why they were in such a hurry, but they knew that if a creator was distressed, it was probably something very bad indeed. Many of them looked to one another worriedly, afraid of another vaccum attack or something of the sort.  

Rudy tried to stay on-focus. His eyes darted from side to side as he tried to figure out which direction they should take. "Um… Snap? The… messenger bird thing… said Penny was being held hostage at the Dome of the Future, right?" 

His distraught counterpart suddenly snapped back to reality. "Huh? Oh… I think so. Good thing you know where it is, because I sure can't remember."

"Yeah…"

It took Rudy a good ten seconds to remember he hadn't the slightest clue where it was either.

"…I mean, uh-oh."

"Uh-oh, what? …Oh great, we're both clueless, aren't we? Maybe we can stop by and ask Biclops, or something."

Rudy shook his head firmly. "That'll take too long! The Magic Chalk Mine is all the way across the map! It'd take at least half an hour to get there. Now, if only I could remember… where exactly the Dome of the Future was…"

"If I recall correctly, while the three of us were being taken there, you had a toilet plunger on your head." Snap sighed, exasperated. "Well, what now?"

"I guess we'll just have to stop for directions. Let's try to find someone we recognize, 'kay?"

Snap nodded, but said nothing. 

The plane did a full 90-degree turn and in no time they were well above a populated city, with all kinds of stores and houses and even a few prisons where ravenous monster chalk-drawings were being contained. The duo was in awe, having never seen so much from so high before. Having a birds' (of course, in ChalkZone, just about anything could be capable of flight) eye view of everything for miles around was pretty cool, but they were both two distracted to care to their full extent. Rudy's frantic thoughts were still on Penny, and Snap… well, Snap had just caught sight of…

"Queen Rapsheeba!" He choked, the normally white pallor of his face turning a slight shade of pink. "Rudy! It's Rapsheeba! Let's ask her!"

Indeed, it was the rapping chalk-girl herself, standing outside on the street, watching a living blender go hopping by opposite her, and confusedly, she raised a brow.

"A blender, now, who'd draw somethin' like that?" She demanded to herself, lifting an arm to rub one side of her head. "How weird."

A sudden shadow was cast overhead her, and by natural instinct, her gaze shot upright, looking above to find out what it was.

"Snap! And the little creator dude! How's you two doin'?"

Instantly the latter of the pair burst into a bunch of jumbled speech, while his blue counterpart stared at him, unnerved. All Rapsheeba could hear coming out of mouth was a lot of senseless blah, although she did manage to pick up Penny's name in there somewhere.

"Snap? What's Rudy blatherin' about? I can't make out a word of what he's sayin'." 

"What Rudy's trying to say is, Penny's been kidnapped by Skrawl and we need directions to the Dome of the Future." Snap translated smugly, naturally willing to do anything she asked for. "Anything else, Queen? Because you know-"

"Wait-WAIT A MINUTE! Hold everything!" Rapsheeba stopped Snap in mid-sentence. "Penny was KIDNAPPED? By… Skrawl? Isn't he that psycho… bug monster… who created that museum dedicated to you, Rudy?"

Words had been failing the boy, so instead he gave nothing but a feeble nod in response. 

"That's terrible!" The rapper exclaimed, eyes wide. "I wish there was something I could do help, but… Unfortunately, I don't know where the Dome of the Future is."

Rudy's face fell upon those words. Immediately, though, his despair turned to unfocused anger, and he bitterly kicked the ground in front of him. "Well, this is just great!" He flopped down on the curb, eyes somber. "How are we going to find that giant cereal bowl?!"

"Cereal bowl?!" Rapsheeba echoed. "The Dome of the Future… is a giant cereal bowl?"

"Pretty much, yeah." Snap replied, taking a seat next to Rudy.

But Rapsheeba persisted. "A giant, shiny, metal cereal bowl with all kinds of weird buildings in side of it?"

"Exactly." Both boys said in unison.

Their company hit herself upside the head. "OOOH! Well, gee! I know where that thing is! I pass by it every day! I can show you. Come on, follow me!"

And with that, she took off down the sidewalk, leaving Rudy and friend in the dust...

"SLOW DOWN!" "WAIT FOR US!" …And shortly afterwards, they pursued after her, trying to keep up.

"Well, if what you're sayin' is true, then there isn't much time." Rapsheeba explained once they were in hearing range. "The Dome of the Future ain't that far away, no it ain't! Just keep the pace, and we'll be there in no time!"

Panting, Snap managed to choke out a response. The furious running was taking a toll on his burning lungs (Er, wait a minute… does he _have _lungs???) "…You're… really… in great physical condition… aren't ya?"

"Well, I gotta be. I'm a performer, and ain't nobody wants to dance along to someone who isn't physically fit! It's not what they came to see, y'know?"

"Oh, right, of course… Still… think you could slow down a little?"

"What, you boys can't keep up?" She teased, as they were still a few feet behind her.

"…Huh? Of course we can!" Snap strained harder, and soon he tagged along directly to her left. "We will never surrender!"

Rudy, however, wasn't in the mood for joking. If he squinted really hard, he could see the vague outline of the Dome of the Future in the distance, but it was barely visible behind several trees and other miscellaneous objects blocking the view. And without realizing it, somehow he managed to get ahead of the other two, for the sooner he stood before that alleged metal lump in the ground, the better.

* * *

"Oh, look, Lenny. The cavalry is coming! And here comes Mr. Knight-in-Shining-Armor Tabootie, coming to rescue his princess from the dragon – that's me – along with his trusty stee… uh, his trusty sidekick… and his trusty sidekick's friend… and… um…"

Penny rolled her eyes as she tried to ignore Skrawl's incessant babbling. She was beginning to think if Rudy didn't hurry, she'd slowly begin to go insane.

"While we wait for Rudy to come and humiliate you again, perhaps you wouldn't mind unveiling your evil plan?"

"Why would I want to do that?!"

"All evil villains explain their evil plans to their hostage while they wait for the hero to arrive. It's common knowledge, you know."

Skrawl blinked, wondering how he could've missed this important detail when he slowly and carefully pieced together exactly what he would do. Supposing maybe the girl was right, he cleared his throat, as, you know, explaining things to the _hostage _wouldn't be so crucial in the ultimate plan to destroy the great creator.

"Well… all right. I guess that wouldn't hurt." Shrugging, he continued. "On the base level of this dome are Craniacs 1-4, programmed to attack anything that enters. As you can see, the Dome of the Future's been deserted for weeks now, because I've taken leadership over the Craniacs. Probably from our mutual hatred towards your stupid friend…"

With one clawed hand, he pushed a button on the wall. Penny gasped. The floor, wall, and ceiling of the room had become completely transparent. She could see the rest of the Future Dome below her, and indeed, it was vacant and empty, not a single person in sight.

"When Master Tabootie sets foot in this dome, the Craniacs will activate the Disintegrating Beam, which will, sensibly-"

Penny interrupted. "Disintegrate him?"

Skrawl paused. "Uh, not really. See, nothing here actually _works_. The disintegrating beam actually only paralyzes the enemy, for up to an hour at a time. But it's still pretty efficient." Taking a brief glance at the approaching Rudy, Snap, and Rapsheeba in the distance, Skrawl continued. "And then, once we have both him and you at our mercy, we can simply do whatever we want with you. We could force him to add on to the dome, expanding our quarters… with your life as his motive. Or, we could just brutally destroy you both, using the Paralyzing Beam."

"Which, lemme guess… Paralyzes?"

"No, actually. It disintegrates."

* * *

A/N: I don't know.

Sorry that chapter took so long. Writer's block. Mmm-hmmm…


	6. Captivity Crisis

Space Cadet

A/N: First o' all, I'd like to say… Thankyou to the reviewers… *GIR-ish voice* I like youuu… xD

Second o' all, I'd like to say… If I ever take that long to update again, please threaten to impale me on a random, pointy object. Motivation is always good!****

Chapter 6 – Captivity Crisis

Rapsheeba came to an abrupt halt about ten feet away from the oversized cereal bowl. She refused to go any further.

"Uh, this is as close as I want to get to those nasty robots and such." She claimed, trembling. "I'm sorry, Snap."

"That's alright, Queen. Thanks for your help." The little drawing replied, gazing up at the future dome. It was even bigger than the last time he remembered seeing it.

"Anytime! But, um, please, do be careful." And with that, she edged away from the scene, obviously paranoid, as if she were afraid little… robot things would spring out of the bushes and lunge themselves at their throats. 

Rudy, who had remained silent for the past ten minutes or so, was also in awe, but he was too heavily weighed down with panic to care. In a hurry, he snatched the chalk out of his back pocket and poised it in the air, ready to draw.

"What should I go with, Snap? Grappling hook? Jetpack? A really big ladder? What would be best for climbing up the Dome of the Future?" He asked, speaking up at last. Snap, who was partially distracted by the retreating Rapsheeba, soon returned to his senses.

"Wha…? Eh… Oh, I like the jetpack idea myself. Gotta go with the rocket boosters!"

"Right! Of course." Rudy quickly doodled up two identical jetpacks (which, upon being finished, became blue-and-silver with black fuel tanks), kept one for himself, and gave the other to Snap, who toyed with the controls curiously.

"How do you activate this thing?" He asked, unsure.

Rudy sighed. "I dunno- but I'm assuming it has something to do with the little buttons on the bottom of the place where you put your hands."

"Which would be…?"

Moaning impatiently, Rudy showed Snap the correct hand position. Apparently the blue boy had never seen an actual jetpack before. To be honest, his creator sure hadn't either, but he'd seen a lot of them in clichéd action movies.

"Oh! So you just press this, and… WOAH!"

Snap rocketed suddenly off the ground, doing several cartwheels in mid-air before righting himself, already dizzy. But it still didn't take him long to figure out the basics. Soon, he stopped spinning and slowed to a hovering position about four feet above ground. "This thing sure is cool, Rudy! Is this what they use to travel in the human world?"

"Nah… just in movies, and stuff. We drive around in cars, which are bulkier, safer but far less efficient." 

"Oh. But _why_?"

"_SNAP_! Let's stay on track, _please_?! The future dome is THAT way."

Rapsheeba waved to them both as they blindly flew over the top of the dome. Snap wavered a bit and even crashed into an oddly-placed tree on one occasion, but Rudy was already an expert. After a few short seconds, they both disappeared from sight. The rapping girl shook her head sadly, hoping they'd be alright.

"Good luck, boys!"

She got no reply but a random screech from above. It was a pencil with wings, fluttering around her clumsily like it had serious head trauma. Mumbling under her breath, Rapsheeba casually ambled away, trying to ignore the winged pencil trailing her. Gosh, it was annoying.

* * *

From a bird's eye view, the future dome looked far more advanced than it did close-up, mostly because you couldn't make out the details that made the devices technologically worthless. A giant, lopsided spoon with several doors (some suspended in midair), windows, and no apparent purpose sparked a few times, leaving a sudden trail of smoke spewing out of one of the pipes. A small, computer-run hot dog stand was set up on ground level, the robot manager missing half of his vital appendages. Everything in the Future Dome was faulty and useless. 

But even so, it came as a surprise when they realized… nobody was there.

"Hey, uh, Rudy?" Snap suddenly asked out of the blue, gazing down at the buildings in awe. "Didn't this place used to be packed with all kinds of curious Zoners?"

The boy took a second to reply, still a bit startled. "Yeah… But then again, you'd think if a giant jellybean monster takes one of the creators hostage, people would be afraid." 

"Penny ain't a creator."

"She has chalk, and she's used it. Define the ChalkZone meaning of the word 'creator', Snap."

"You win." His drawing sighed.

They took another second to admire the area. From afar, it looked like some kind of glistening utopia, but the malfunctioning hardware inside the dome suggested otherwise. The buildings were all bent over to one side, some were missing doors and some still were abandoned and unattended.

And then, they saw _it_. It was a huge, globular pod hovering above an enormous tower that ejected from the dome like a lightening rod. The pod was higher than even the tallest of the other skyscrapers, and from the looks of its twenty or so security systems (one on every floor), it seemed to be especially important. 

"Betcha anything Penny's up there." Snap murmured. Rudy nodded in agreement. None of the other buildings were so well-guarded.

"I'm just surprised we haven't been shot down yet." The boy thought out loud. "I mean, here we are, stepping right into Skrawl's trap… With rocket-powered jetpacks… I mean, we might as well be wearing glowing neon signs around our necks."

"Now's not the time for pessimism, Rudy. If we survive this, then I've got a full life ahead of me, and I'm opting to live long enough to fulfill some of my lifelong dreams." Snap grumbled, warily. "Just draw us a laser beam and we can destroy that dome and get your friend back."

"We'd have to land first. Piloting these jetpacks around takes both hands." Rudy pointed out. "Come on, we can land by the tower, I can draw something, and we'll be back in the air, ten seconds tops."

"Hows about YOU land by the tower, YOU draw something, and… I'll just stay up here in the air where it's safe?" Snap suggested, squinting his eyes grumpily. 

"Fine, you stay here, chicken boy." Rudy lowered himself towards the ground, gradually slowing down until he was close enough to fall. 

Once his feet hit the ground, he groped around in his pocket for the magic chalk. He knew it was in there SOMEWHERE. I mean, his suspiciously invisible (at least, until he needs them) pockets couldn't be bottomless…

Finally, skin met chalk. With a satisfactory grin, he pulled out the chalk and started to draw. Snap watched closely, keeping a sharp eye for any threats nearby.

"Can you hurry, Rudy?" He requested, glancing around nervously. "I'm… starting to get this odd feeling that… perhaps we're being hunted… Or watched… or possibly both…"

"SNAP! No cliché ramblings while I draw! I need to concentrate!"

Unfortunately, while poor Rudy was drawing, he was completely oblivious to the approaching Craniac… as was Snap, who was _actually_ looking out for any trouble such as the event described… But we cannot blame him, because he has no pupils for which to see. 

It was Craniac 3, Rudy's closest acquaintance out of the Craniac line. Craniac 3 was creepily intelligent, all-knowing, and his only succussor was the just-as-ambitious Craniac 4. But let's not get into that. Craniac 4 was off somewhere in another part of the Future Dome. Maybe he was buying hot dogs from the robot hot dog man with the lack of vital appendages. Ooh, slacker.

_ZAP!_

* * *

Penny gasped in surprise as Craniacs 1 and 3 dragged in a seemingly unconscious Rudy and Snap. Her fears had been brought into reality. They had failed, and all three were now hostage.

"Got his instant matter materializer, Master Skrawl!" 1 exclaimed, waving the chalk in the air like a baton. Skrawl quickly snatched the utensil from the robot, sneering rudely.

"It's called chalk, you moronic android." And with that, the giant cootie crushed White Lightning with a simple clench of his clawed fists. "Actually, now it's dust. Harmless, innocent, defenseless dust. You're free to go, Craniacs."  

The two robots quickly wheeled themselves out of the room. Skrawl pressed a button on a pad attached to the side of the wall, and the door rolled shut.

Penny watched her motionless friends hopefully, as if by some twisted miracle, they'd wake up and manage to get their way out of trouble yet again. But nothing of the sort happened. Skrawl smirked triumphantly as he gripped Rudy tightly by the collar of his shirt, waving him around as if to prove he had conquered his creator.

"I've waited so long for this moment, Master Tabootie." He sneered, before hurling the boy against the wall, yards away from Penny. "And I _know_ you can hear me. The disintegrating beam – which paralyzes, in case you've forgotten - only disables usage of the body… not the mind."

Penny felt a pang somewhere in the excruciatingly precise depths of her mind - what Skrawl had just described was yet another scientific impossibility. She never could make heads or tails of ChalkZone logic, assuming that there was any, of course.

"Then again, revenge is _always_ more fun when the person you're wreaking doom upon is awake." Skrawl snapped his fingers. "And I'm just dying to know what my hostages think about the ingenuity of their captor and his plan to eliminate them!"

All at once, Rudy's eyes popped open, his pupils small and vague and first, and then widening once he realized his situation.

The green jellybean veered over at him, poking his oversized head into Rudy's line of vision.

"Pleasure to see you, Master Tabootie." Skrawl jeered tauntingly, painfully calm. "Glad you can drop in."

Rudy glared angrily up at the monster, refusing to answer. He was at a loss of words. They'd lost, and to a potato with appendages. Beside the boy, Snap was waking up, more gradually than Rudy had. 

"Ugh… oh yeah, great, Rapsheeba…" The drawing murmured in half-sleep, turning over in his semi-conscious state. "Sounds just great…"

Rudy bit his lip. His ally, the powerless Snap, was just about as helpful to him as the bound Hispanic girl in the corner, watching the scene in disbelief.

It took a while for this to seep in.

"Penny…!"

* * *

A/N: Next chapter WILL hopefully come quicker.  Review, my captivated readers. Oh, how you will review. Work your reviewing charms upon my fanfiction.


	7. Sacrificial

Space Cadet

A/N: I'll bother with the Author's Note towards the end of this chapter. Just a note- The R/P-ness REALLY starts in the next part. But I'm not posting it until I get some feedback on this chapter. Yay! So, uh… I guess I'll just get on with it now.

Chapter 7 – Sacrificial

Rudy felt himself heat up a bit, more than he already had what with being in life-threatening danger. For a brief instant, he was just thankful she was okay, her only burden being the chalk-ropes that bound her ankles and wrists. Other than that, she looked just as frightened as he was. "Penny…! You're alright!"

"But of course, Rudy. What purpose would I have to Skrawl had I not been available for usage as _live _bait? This way, you have something to motivate you to do whatever Skrawl wants."

Same old Penny. Rudy smiled in relief, despite the eminent danger. His friend was unharmed, and that's what counted.

What a one-track mind he has.

"Uh, I hate to break up this reunion, but… we're not out of the woods yet." Snap interrupted. Apparently, he had woken up from his mid-daydream about Rapsheeba. "In case you don't remember, we're being held prisoner."

Snap's reminder brought Rudy back into reality. He was seconds away from his doom, and he hardly cared it all. Was it possibly because he was faced with impending doom just about every other day, and he was used to it? 

Skrawl cleared his throat. "This isn't visiting hour, children." He snapped at them, sounding a disturbing amount like a disgruntled schoolteacher. "You've a greater purpose than that."

The trio fell silent. "We're listening." Snap acknowledged, speaking up for the three of them.

"Anyways… I was thinking about what genius girl said to me." Skrawl drawled slowly. "She said I don't follow the common laws of any TRUE villain. Well, that kind of talk hurts, little girl. And so, I kept thinking on ways to improve on my evil methods… And I think I came to a conclusion."

The giant jellybean raised a clawed appendage to press a small red button on the wall. This gave access to a series of even smaller buttons. He punched in a few numbers and the door to the chamber opened. 

"You're letting us go?!" The boy asked, confused.

"Well, _gee_, Master Tabootie… I wonder OF COURSE NOT!" Skrawl snapped viciously. "I'm actually getting away from this scene of soon-to-be-carnage, leaving you to your… your…" He struggled for a catchy phrase. "Your _untimely_ demise… Nah, that's overused… No, no wait- Your _unscheduled end_. Yes, that still has fresh ring to it."

Skrawl punched in another button on the exterior of the room's walls, and the door slammed shut again. The trio remaining blinked in confusion, wondering what horrible threat their captor might have in store for them. Unfortunately, they could barely see anything, as all the lights had mysteriously gone out when Skrawl had left.

"Maybe he'll severe our heads and toss our bodies into the Wait 'N' Sea!" Snap exclaimed, trembling, for the very thought disturbed him. Rudy shook his head.

"Nah… in a few seconds, the walls of this room will probably start to close in on themselves, and we'll be trapped in the center with no way of escape." The boy predicted. "And Rudy Tabootie is NEVER wrong!"

Penny elbowed him in the ribs to get him to shut up.

"What!? Penny! That hurt." 

In his momentary confusion, Rudy had forgotten she was even there with them. He'd already grown accustomed to her absence.

"Oh… OH! Penny! That's right. We didn't get to talk much before. Are you ok!? Did Skrawl do anything to you?! 'Cause if he did, I'm gonna-"

Rudy paused. Penny's eyes were wide open, and she was trembling freely, as if the ground beneath her were quaking.

"Huh? What-" Rudy was silenced as Penny brought her hand over his mouth in panic. "Shhh!" She urged silently. "Listen! Do you hear it?"

He did so. Unfortunately, there was nothing but dead silence as far as he could hear.

"Not really." He murmured.

Penny sighed in frustration. "I _know_ I heard something- What about you, Snap?"

Snap, however, was deeply focused on something else. "Uhhh… P-p-penny?!" He asked, cautiously.

"Yeah?"

"Turn around, please."

She did so, so that she was facing Snap's direction. Out of curiosity, Rudy followed both of their glances- and then did a full 180 to get a better view. He was stunned.

"What is that thing!?"

From somewhere within the depths of the dome, Skrawl's voice blared at a loud volume.

"Hello, Creators… and the little blue kid whom I never really got the chance to meet." He greeted. "The creature in the corner is a Ksuyan- a dragon made entirely of metal. It was drawn by a kid who wanted to create a multi-purpose robotic equivalent to an actual living thing… and supposedly, the kid envisioned the Ksuyan as a hard-working house droid of the future. Unfortunately, in your pathetic world, such a thing is impossible. That's why this creature was erased into ChalkZone."

The Ksuyan itself was obviously drawn by a kid with impeccable artistic talent. Its spiked mane flared several feet beyond its neck, and its large, metallic claws, although made of chalk, seemed to glisten in the darkness. Its eyes glowed a blueish-white, like that of an extremely hot star. They could barely see it, but even its silhouette looked vicious. As the creature surveyed them, the first thing it sighted was the slight shine from Penny's glasses. It was enough light to make the robot flinch in agony.

"COMMAND-TARGET INITIATED." Announced a male voice that emitted from its throat. 

"Umm… what?" Snap asked of his two comrades, scratching his round head in confusion. "Command who in what? What does that- AAAAAAH!"

The Ksuyan had leaped off of its back legs and was charging full-speed towards the three of them. The trio broke off in separate directions, seconds before the large metal bulk of the dragon hit the ground. Luckily for them, it was a fairly large room, and there was enough space to run.

Penny backed off into a wall, wondering whom it would chase. The Ksuyan sat on its forelegs for a minute, looking from chalk drawing to person to person. All was pitch-black… until the girl's glasses were at such an angle they gave off a VERY minor glint. 

The dragon locked onto the Hispanic girl- or rather, the light. She gave off light. She had to be terminated.

Then it charged again.

"PENNY!" Rudy shouted, backed up against his own wall of the room. "IT'S COMING FOR YOU!"

Even Snap couldn't keep his eyes of the scene. He secretly prayed she'd get out of the way in time.

The dragon's metallic feet gave off loud _thunk_s as it stampeded across the room once again. Penny stood there in panic, paralyzed with fear, feeling like a deer under a spotlight. The Ksuyan was fast approaching, and before long, its bright blue eyes were only yards away from her own.

Finally coming to her senses, Penny ducked, and the Ksuyan's head collided forcefully into the wall. The girl slid between its legs, then hurriedly clambered to her feet and made a hasty retreat. Scampering across the room, she scanned the area for Rudy and Snap, although it was barely possible to see ANYTHING. Finally, she saw a darkened silhouette from the far wall, with a roundish head and what looked like a bandana. Snap. But where was Rudy?

_Thump._ She had bumped into someone. Startled, she fell to the floor again, and the other did the same. He gave his own slight cry of surprise. Yep, definitely Rudy.

"Sorry, Rudy!" She breathed quickly, grabbing his arm and pulling him back up… but after a second thought, she instead wrapped her arms around his shoulders tightly, a wave of panic overtaking her. "We've GOT to get out of here!"

Rudy was suddenly thankful for the darkness, for he knew she couldn't see his face starting to burn. Hesitantly, all the while feeling a strange combination of fear and regret, he slipped out of her embrace, knowing that a panic attack was only the worst possible scenario. 

"Calm down, Penny. We're going to find a way out. I promise, okay? We came this far, we're not going to give up now." He spoke softly but firmly. Once this was said, he grabbed her arm and started to drag her towards the wall farthest from the robotic threat, which was just starting to rise to its feet.

The Ksuyan gave a low, mechanical-sounding growl, like the sound of thousands of nails hitting a metal board. It saw the enemy retreating, not by means of sight, but from its built-in sonar. 

"Penny, if… If we don't get out of this alive, I…" Rudy tugged at his collar nervously, his heart frozen solid as he watched the Ksuyan clamber to its feet. "I… I want you to know that I…"

The dragon's sharp roar cut him off. It was opening its metallic jaws, before letting loose a stream of reddish missiles pin-pointed on the pair's exact location. Snap backed even further into his corner of the room, eyes as wide as they'd ever get. 

"RUDY! PENNY!" He exclaimed. "GET OUTTA THE WAY, BUCKOS!"

He didn't need to tell them twice. Rudy continued to drag along his panic-stricken female counterpart, ignoring the searing pain as he felt the missiles explode inches from his feet, knowing they'd have singed his flesh if they'd been any closer. Penny was also getting the same impact, being dragged along behind her friend, merely watching in terror as more and more of the little projectiles sailed along towards them.

"Rudy!" She barked, suddenly alert. "There's one headed this way! Make a sharp left turn. We should be able to dodge it."

It took the boy a second or two to comprehend her command, but he obeyed and veered to the left, and the missile erupted a good five feet behind them. Unfortunately, a second one was well on its way, this one looking as if it could make a direct hit.

"To the right, Rudy! The right!" She instructed, tapping his shoulder roughly to make sure he'd heard her. 

"No backseat running!" He complained, starting to get a little strained from the effort.

In no time, the two were backed up against the far wall, panting in both exhaustion and in fear as they hurriedly scanned the room for the enemy.

"Where'd he go?" Penny managed between breaths.

"You were the one in the back." Rudy reminded her.

Neither of them could catch sight of the dragon anymore. It seemed to have just vanished into nowhere. Not even the normal blue-ish white luminescence from its eyes seemed to be present.

Subconsciously, Penny grabbed his hand, hearing a sudden noise from about ten or twenty yards away. "R-Rudy?" She whispered, raising a trembling finger to point in the indicated direction. Rudy quickly looked that way, but he saw nothing. There was in fact some kind of noise, though, but it was getting softer and softer.

The eyes started to glow.

"There it is!" Rudy exclaimed. "It's way over there, by the opposite wall!"

"Oh. Well, why is it over there?"

"I don't know… I'm just relieved it's that far away."

The Ksuyan, of course, wasn't finished with them yet. It was coming back, much faster than he ever had before, its whitish eye with an enraged glint to them.

Rudy's eyes bulged, watching it approach at record speeds. Within three seconds, it had traveled from one end of the room to the middle. There as no time. No time at all. No time to run, no time to confess, no time to… Well, actually, there might be time enough to push someone…

 Penny shut her eyes tight once again, hoping that somehow, the entire situation would disappear, and suddenly she'd be doing something normal and painless, like walking to school or taking an algebra test. Her common sense knew very well this was quite impossible, and was trying to urge her on to move. But her body wouldn't obey, and she only trembled more rapidly…

And the next thing she knew, she was lying on the ground, a sore ache from the bottom of her head but nothing more. There was a large, gaping hole in the wall… letting in oodles of light. The Ksuyan gave a last painful cry, and collapsed to the ground, overheated. Its body made a loud CLUNK as it hit the ground. 

Once again, her better mind started to override her adrenaline as she pieced together the entire situation in her head. Indeed, it made perfect sense. The Ksuyan had charged after her because it hated the light that shone off of her glasses. Once exposed to greater quantities of it, its circuits fried and it became a useless hunk of metal on the floor. Penny rose to her feet, a little shaken-up but mostly okay, watching the fallen menace in disbelief. Its whitish-blue eyes had disappeared, replaced by nothing but a glassy surface that gave off no glow. 

"Well, there's an adventure worth forgetting." She dusted herself off, temporarily pleased with their feat. "Come on, Rudy."

There was no response. A sudden wave of terror went through her spine as she desperately searched for him. It was easier to see with the light shining through the wall.

Finally, she saw him… and she nearly screamed. His motionless body was trapped under the Ksuyan's large tail, and one arm was bent under him in an awkward position. Trembling, Penny suddenly realized what he'd done. He'd pushed her out of the way. 

That's why _she'd_ been okay.

* * *

A/N: Two to four more parts at most. Oh yeah, and mucho gracias for the reviews. Very good motivation, yes. Actually, I've already gotten more than half of the next part written, so it should come within a week or so. Until then, review!


	8. System Error

Space Cadet

A/N - Woah. I got 5 more reviews in less than 15 hours! YAYYY. 

Anyway, I'd just like to thank everyone again. I'm glad CZ still has some fans. **AnT**- Yes, Rudy is quite dull, but nonetheless he's one of the more selfless Nickelodeon characters, so we can forgive him. **Michael JJ**- If you mean Skrawl and Craniac 3… I agree with you 100%. (although they're really the only two main CZ villains…) I think Skrawl is cute. Yay Skrawly! **Doodle**- That's by far one of the nicest reviews I've ever gotten. Although I'm not fond of my own writing, I'm glad other people are. Thanketh you! BTW… I don't find Snap annoying anymore, so moo. He's actually OK now. The Skrawl/Snap idea though is just kinda creepy, but it'd be interesting, heheh. ^^;; You could try it. (Or I could, but, uh… Um… I'm very poor at shonen-ai AND love/hate relationships.) Oh yeah, and during Chapter 7, Snap just kinda stood off to the side and did nothing. Heh. 

Geebus… Fluff. Love it when it's someone else's, hate it when it's mine. Blah. Humor is my main genre, so I don't delve much into fluff… So this is kind of like a first-timer for me. Whee. Go me. So, I decided to postpone the fluffness even further. Now, it's either the chapter after this one or the chapter after that one. I'm going to go back and add a chapter or something after Ch 1, so the main plot doesn't last the whole fic. I'm re-vamping this thing from the beginning to end, so by the time I'm finished, it'll probably be over 20,000 words. 

Chapter 8 – System Error

The beach of the Wait 'N' Sea was deserted, its waves clashing along the barren shoreline. The globe theatre was in the same state, as a tumbleweed happened by its front doors. All around ChalkZone, houses had been emptied, their doors and windows left ajar. Few Zoners could be seen anywhere, for most of them were marching behind Biclops in a very angry mob-esque fashion. Leading the crowd was the local rapper, Rapsheeba, the only one of the mob left unarmed. She didn't actually plan on fighting, but if the need arisen, she'd defend her friends at all costs. All she knew was that the great creator was out to rescue his soul mate and Snap was going to help. The angry crowd of Zoners was running as fast as they could towards the Dome of the Future, following the rap girl's lead.

"Keep the pace, people!" She urged anxiously, although she knew they had reached their limit. "This is important, you know! If Skrawl kills the creator, he may ultimately plan on doing the same to us, and nobody wants that."

The Zoners each murmured their own responses, but none of them could bear to go any faster. Biclops, who towered above everyone else, was the first to spot the dome in the distance.

"There it is, queen." He announced. "We're getting close."

* * *

 Minutes after the outer metal hull of the room was penetrated, the security system started to breech. A shrill alarm sounded and the clatter of persons moving about several stories down could be heard, only adding to the noise level. They would've been able to jump out through the hole had they not been twenty or so stories above ground level.  Snap, who'd been cowering in the corner throughout the entire encounter with the Ksuyan, finally re-joined his friends near the hole in the wall. 

"Great gumballs!" He hadn't realized Rudy's position before. "What happened?!"

Penny was crouched above his motionless form. Trembling, she glanced up to look at Snap, tears starting to form in his eyes. "Rudy, he… he… He's…"

Snap stared at her in horror. "No… No! He's okay. He's got to be okay! Rudy, bucko! Can you hear me?!"

The two watched him intensely, scanning for any movement. Fortunately, he was indeed breathing, but it was ragged and shallow. His chest rose and fell in a random rhythm, and his breaths sounded forced and pained. The Ksuyan's heavy metal tail was still strewn across his belly, probably crushing his lungs under its weight. 

"We've got to move the tail." Penny observed, shaking from sheer worry. Snap nodded, fastening his grip on the long, mechanical link. "On 3!" She told him. "1, 2…"

Snap started early. He strained to lift the thing's large tail, but it did budge a little. Penny sat up on her knees to help him, gripping the dragon's tail and forcibly trying to lift it. Nothing happened. It was too heavy, at least seventy or eighty pounds, and that was just its tail. She hated to think about what they would've done if the dragon's whole body had collapsed on him…

"It's no use." She managed, releasing her grip. "We'll never move this thing on our own… but we've got to keep Rudy breathing. Otherwise, there's… there's just no hope for him…"

Snap gazed at her pleadingly. "If we can't move the tail, how do we-" He paused. There was a faint thump in the distance, and then an enraged holler, and it sounded nearby. Penny and Snap exchanged horrified glances as they realized what was going on.

_"What do you mean, the pod's hull was crushed_?" It was Skrawl's voice, and it sounded like he was directly down below them. It was muffled and toned down with what with a single floor in the way._ "Once we get to the top story, we'll just see for ourselves!"_

As if on cue, the door to their cell opened, as to allow passage. Skrawl wasn't there yet, but in a few seconds they knew he would be.

Penny dared not breathe. She could feel her heart caught in her throat, her blood slowly turning to ice as her body refused to move. "Snap!" She nearly whimpered. "What do we do!?"

Snap looked both ways anxiously, eyes wide. His gaze rested on the buttons on the wall- the ones Skrawl had used to activate the doors. _Bingo._

He stood up - "I'll be back in a flash!" - and instantly was off, clambering across the room, using his gloved hand to press as many buttons as he could, for his hand was too wide to press a single one. The door made a strange _whirring_ noise, and for a second, Snap didn't think anything would happen… at least, until it started to screech, and the door hit the ground, blocking entry. And just in time. Skrawl rounded the corner, only to see the door shut. He didn't see this as such a big threat, however, for there was a second control panel outside the door as well. He crawled up to it and pushed the appropriate button that would open the door. Nothing happened. When Snap hit all the buttons, he had overloaded the system.

"What!?" Skrawl pushed the button again. Still nothing. "Oh, that nuisance!" He growled, pushing it a third time, although he knew it would do nothing. "They've locked me out! What a terrible thing to do to their host."

Although not too distressed, he activated the chalkie-talkie, the one that would broadcast his voice to every station across the entire dome. 

"Craniacs?!" He demanded, his voice a low, irritable grumble. "Tabootie's jammed the lock on the door, and I can't get in. I don't get it- The Ksuyan should've finished him off. Get the system back up and running. I think I'd like to take my revenge personally this time around."

Craniac 3 was the first one to come in. "The boy crashed the system? Such a thing could only be caused by a processing overload… Oh well. We will try to get the system functional again."

"You'd better." Skrawl snapped back. "If it's not operational, I can't get in, and they'll find some way to get out."

"That seems impossible. I did not think them capable of surviving if dropped from such a height." 

And Craniac 3 went back to work. He was on the base level of the tower, fiddling with the controls, adjusting the plugs and trying to get everything working again. Unfortunately, the system had crashed, and in order to get everything working, he'd have to reboot the computer, the one that controlled every function in the tower. And rebooting such an important processing unit took time. It'd take about ten minutes. Unfortunately, Craniac 3 was unsure Skrawl was willing to wait ten minutes… and so he secretly prayed that big jellybean wouldn't dismantle him later.

* * *

Snap was having a hard time coping with his mixed emotions as he took a seat next to Penny. On one hand, he was angry at her for getting him into such a mess… And on another, he was trying to decide whether or not he should tell her Rudy's little secret. Well, either way, they were both hunched over their best friend, both overcome with worry.

"Oh Rudy… That was such a stupid thing to do." The girl whispered. The tears welling up in her eyes were fogging up her glasses, but she couldn't care to wipe them off. Snap seemed a bit startled at her input, but he tried his best to ignore it. Although Rudy's feelings for her were always quite obvious, Snap had secretly always doubted that she liked him the same way. She seemed a bit obsessive over math and science, but she never seemed quite the romantic type (Had he been around when Rudy had found his father's old love letter, he might've thought otherwise). Now, he was starting to have second thoughts.

"Say, uh, Buckette?" Snap intervened, his voice quiet. "He's still… with us, right?"

Penny gave a feeble nod, her gaze resting on the ground, silently. "Although, to be honest, I just… I just don't know if he'll be waking up, Snap. I mean, Skrawl is probably already sending reinforcements, and by the time they get here… Well…" Her voice trailed off. "And… Unless we find a way to get Ksuyan's tail off of him, he may suffocate."

Snap felt himself flinch at these words, but he saw them coming and he merely had to accept the bitter reality. He still had some questions, though. "Say, uh, Penny?" He asked, curiously. "Why'd you come to ChalkZone in the first place? You know, before Skrawl bagged you?"

Penny wasn't expecting this. She looked at him strangely. "Come to think of it… I came to talk to _you_." She told him. "I was going to ask you what's been going on with Rudy."

Snap stared at her, unbelievingly. Slowly, he came to realize what that meant. Rudy's feelings for Penny had, in the long run, been his fate. And now, the three of them were trapped on the uppermost cell of a twenty-story tower in the middle of the Future Dome with Skrawl plotting his revenge. It was stupid.

"I'm sure the whole city's out looking for us now." Penny mused, mainly to herself, although she looked down at the unconscious boy while she said it. He was still breathing, although it was still hoarse. She couldn't care less about what the people of Plainville were thinking about them at the moment, however. She just wanted them both to get back home in one piece.

"In case Rudy doesn't wake up… There's really something you oughta know…" Snap spoke up, his voice trembling.

However, he didn't say any more, because Rudy started to stir. His eyes opened slowly, his pupils blurred and indistinct. He could barely see a thing. Penny heard him murmur, although it was part of an exhale, so his lips didn't move. His voice was cautious and weak, as if it took all the air in his lungs to muster out the word. 

"S-Snap? P-Penny?" He smiled. "You guys are alright!"

He paused, then started to cough, and folded his legs against his chest while his eyes started to water from the force it took to clench them shut. Penny grimaced in discomfort as she watched him, unsure of what she could do. One hand went to his shoulder while the other ran gently through his hair. It soothed him, apparently, for he stopped twitching and started to relax. She knew it would; she wasn't sure how she knew, either. It was just kind of a… subconscious feeling.

"Do you feel all right, Rudy?" She asked him softly, her eyes mere inches away from his own. "Don't speak. Just nod."

The boy uttered something of a "yes", despite what she'd just said. He was feeling quite the opposite, though. His vision was out-of-focus, as if he was cross-eyed. His lungs felt as if they had been set aflame and each breath left his windpipe sore. All sounds of the outside world were nothing but static, except Penny's voice, which mysteriously came through to him crystal-clear. He was sure it was the only thing keeping him awake.

"Hold on. We'll get you out of here. We'll find a way." She assured him.

To Rudy, everything after that sounded distant, faded, quiet, as if watching TV with the volume turned on low. Their pending escape plan suddenly seemed of no great importance to him as he drifted off further into his own thoughts.

"Rudy! Bucko! Come on, can't you get up?" It was Snap's voice, but he sounded very far away (although in reality, it was only a few inches). "We gotta get out of here! The computer network thingie is starting to re-activate! The lights are flickering back on!"

Rudy tried to tone out Snap's frantic voice. His friends were still, of course, his main priority, but in his current state-of-mind and disorientation, his main desire was just to close his eyes and forget about the world. There was a crushing, pressuring pain from his abdomen and it was making it difficult to breathe. 

He wasn't disturbed much after he slipped out of consciousness. Some time later, he was positive he heard a familiar female voice with a hip-sounding lisp, and then of course, many loud collisions and explosions. But impotent he was in his current state, and so he was oblivious to all that was going on.


	9. The Calvary's Comeback

Space Cadet

A/N - Oi… Ya, I know I posted the last chapter uber-early (less than twenty-four hours after posting the one before it) but I got the full 5 reviews I wanted in that time so I decided to have it posted really fast.

Thanketh to the reviewers, yes. I luffle yew. Reviewies make me feel very good inside. Yay! Fuzzly feeling. 

Doodle – Wow, that was a longer and nicer review than I usually get ^^ Thanks so much. Oh, and um… The Skrawl/Snap thing you described (in your dream) filled me with very terrifying mental images. But regardless, it was quite fascinating. Geez, I wonder how many awkward stares I'd get if I were to write a fic like that… And I'm not much into the Snap/Rapsheeba pairing either (I was at one time, though), but I mean, writing for the official pairings is fun because I know there are fans out there who like them. And, yes, I believe that's enough babbling. 

Chapter 9 – The Calvary's Comeback

Craniac 2 and Craniac 4 were the last to hear the news. Both were still stationed near certain areas in the Dome of the Future, not much paying attention to anything.

The second of the Craniac line was a bit weary. "My thermal sensors detect much motion nearby. We should be prepared for an ambush."

The other, Craniac 4, seemed much more laid-back, simply hovering there unalarmed. "Master Skrawl or C3 would inform us if there were any outsiders approaching." It announced blandly, sounding very bored. "As long as the system is up and running, nothing can get by our defenses. The disintegrating beam – which paralyzes – is positioned by the entrance. Tabootie and his sidekick were already taken. Any friends with intents to save them are going to suffer the same fate. Look, you can even see the beam from here. It's truly glorious, isn't it?"

Craniacs 2 and 4 took a second to admire the beam- until a pale giant with a ridiculous tartan-patterned kilt crushed the machine underfoot as if it were a twig.

* * *

Rapsheeba stood atop the small, mechanized hot dog stand (you know the one), gazing upon her fellow Zoners, a pleased but worried smile on her face. Biclops was having a swell time stomping upon all kinds of unrecognizable junk, make the dome tremble each time.

Buzzzz. A small, clearly female insect perched upon the rapper's arm, her lavender wings trembling even after landing. "Snap and ze creators are on ze uppermost floor, that building right over zere." She spoke with a very heavy accent, using a thin, segmented arm to point to the tower in the center of the dome. "I did not get ze best view, but zey look to be all in one piece. Ze great creator seems unconscious, but other zan zat, zey're fine." 

"Thanks, Fly." Rapsheeba quickly told the bug on her arm. "I'll tell the others."

"Our comrades must be careful." Fly added. "Ze top floor is very high. If zey were to fall, I don't believe zey would survive."

The girl took a second glance up at the tower-like building. It must've been over a hundred feet above ground level, definitely not a height most were capable of surviving at if dropped. "I'll keep that in mind."

* * *

In the great tower itself, the computer had finally rebooted. The system _whirred_ back to life, and suddenly all the lights flickered on, and all the heavy mechanized defenses were working again. Skrawl, who had been waiting impatiently outside the door to the highest floor (the room with his captives), mumbled absently as he felt the power surge through every circuit in the building. 

"FINALLY! Took those blasted androids long enough." He anxiously raised a finger to the appropriate button.

The door gave a familiar beep, and obediently drew itself all the way open. Satisfied, the oversized jellybean strutted inside, using all three legs to navigate through the debris that had spread when Ksuyan had hit the wall. "Hmmm… so THIS is what happened. Darn, I should have seen this flaw in the Ksuyan's programming. That stupid kid who created it was obviously not thinking straight when they made their stupid robot VULNERABLE TO LIGHT!" He nearly erupted at the end of the sentence, seeing the giant dragon strewn across the room, looking hopelessly pathetic. Deactivated (and seen in the light), it appeared completely harmless, and its wires and body plates were sparking uncontrollably.

"Pathetic creature…" He murmured. And just minutes ago he had been hopelessly obsessed with bragging about its power. Marching solemnly up to the Ksuyan's head (near the hole in the wall), he searched the floor around it for his victims. Surely enough, there they were. Snap was peering out the "window", obviously excited about something. Penny was watching Skrawl as he approached, anger in her eyes. And Rudy… Rudy Tabootie was motionless, eyes shut, with the dragon's tail (which had bended to the front upon impact) crushing him under its weight.

"Well, this is a nice surprise." Skrawl mused. He felt his mood lifting already. "I guess your little encounter with my robot was actually beneficial. Well, genius girl, looks like your fates didn't match after all. Master Tabootie seems to have lost. But you shouldn't worry, because I have all sorts of vicious, dormant androids cooped up under this building. I'll even let you pick which one should destroy you." 

Penny raised her head, muttering under her breath with more resent than she had ever displayed toward anyone. "There's a reason why you're such a monster, Skrawl… And it's not because of your looks." She refused to say anymore, instead turning her attention back to her fallen friend.

Skrawl turned to Snap. "And as for you… We'll think of something. I barely even remember who you are, so it'd be impossible to get revenge. And I'm not cold-blooded towards Zoners I haven't even met yet. Maybe we'll just severe your head and toss the rest of you into the Wait 'N' Sea. You know. Something simple."

For once, Snap had been right… but he also wasn't paying the slightest bit of attention. He could've smiled ear to ear (if he even _had_ ears, that is, but whatever). About a hundred feet below them, a mob was gathered around the base of the building, Biclops at the front of them.

There was a buzz in Skrawl's chalkie-talkie. It was Craniac 3, on the bottom level. "There's a slight disturbance going on down here. We have intruders trying to force open our door. What should we do?"

"Hit them with some kind of beam." Skrawl replied in a hurry. "I'm getting my revenge here, please leave me al-"

"A particularly large intruder has dismantled all of our outside weaponry. Unless they get inside, we cannot attack them." The Craniac responded.

_Blast it. _Skrawl hurriedly forced his head through the hole in the wall, holding Snap back with one claw to keep him from trying anything funny (such as pushing him all the way through the hole) "I seem them now. Oh, great. There's too many of them. Well, I wasn't expecting _this_. We'll have to take the escape pods on Level 13. Hold them as long as you can. I've got a few more things to take care of."

"I will try."

"And go find 1, 2, and 4, will you?! We'll have to move all the… important equipment to the other base. You know the one."

Penny raised her head, cocking a brow in confusion. A _second_ base?  

Skrawl, however, was finished talking. He shut off the chalkie talkie and quickly threw it aside, clawed fists clenching in anticipation. "And now, it's my turn… to deal with you three. Master Tabootie isn't dead, now, is he? I know he isn't. Let me see him." 

Penny and Snap looked firm. "Never." The girl hissed. 

"Over my dead body!" Snap agreed.

"Actually, little blue boy, I wanted Tabootie dead FIRST. You'll have to wait your turn."

Skrawl only hunched closer, outstretching an arm towards Rudy and Penny. Snap lunged himself at the jellybean monster, but was only pinned against the wall by another of the creature's three arms. "_Ack…_" The white parts of Snap's face started to turn a cobalt blue color, matching his mask and bandana. "Some…" cough.  "S-some air would be nice!" 

Penny, however, was more resistant. She backed away from the oncoming Skrawl, one arm protectively draped over Rudy's unconscious form and the other one dangling in front of her in self-defense, as if to hold the monster back. Skrawl gave a dark laugh at her loyalty, but still he advanced. He pressed his head farther and farther into Penny's way that she had to lean down a little bit- eventually, she was up against the floor.

"Let me just say… If my evil minions valued _my_ life the way you do his, all of ChalkZone would've been enslaved by now." He leaned even closer. She realized, with horror, she could see the slight yellow pallor of his sharp, crooked teeth as he bared them menacingly. "I'll give you that much credit."

"He _is_ my best friend." Penny snapped, unused to such a tone of voice (but then again, she wasn't quite accustomed to being held prisoner, either). "We look out for each other."

Skrawl laughed again. It was haughty, almost amused and not genuinely evil. "You don't think of him as _just_ your best friend, now, do you? I can see it in your eyes, you know, amongst the fear and hopelessness. It's _looooove_." He crooned, and the shock on her face after he said it was simply hilarious. She looked more alarmed than he'd ever seen her before, even when she'd first been taken hostage.

"T-Th-That's…" She couldn't say any more. She was at a loss of words. Such taunts were expected from a close friend like Snap, but NOT from a villain who wanted them dead. 

"Which is exactly why I want to kill _him_ first… Because you're conscious and you're able to witness it!" Skrawl reached out with a clawed hand, and seized the girl by the collar of her shirt. He nonchalantly flung her aside, although she scrambled to get back up and over towards Rudy, he simply pushed her away again. And after that, Skrawl grabbed the tail of the Ksuyan- and without a warm-up breath or anything, he merely lifted it up and shoved it out of the way. Suddenly without the burden of the Ksuyan's heavy tail, Rudy's ragged breaths took a sharp incline, and although he did stir a little, he remained unconscious. Skrawl took a moment to smile, triumphant and obviously pleased with himself, before he suddenly thrashed out and clenched a fist around the boy's neck, raising him a few feet in the air. While he did this, he released his hold on Snap, who (although unnoticed by all) made a mad dash out of the room. 

"Rudy!" The girl in the corner cried. A few strands of her hair were astray and out of their normal style, hanging down in front of her face, and there was a thin hairline crack in her glasses, from the frame to the center. From being thrown around so much, there were already several bruises starting to form, some of them slightly bloodied. And still, she rose to her feet, her eyes desperate and concerned. "Let go of him, Skrawl!" She begged, knowing that physically, there wasn't much she could do.

Such a command only made her adversary smirk. "Music to my… uh… whatever I use to hear." And he tightened his grip.

Penny opened her mouth to object- but paused. There was what sounded like a stampede directly below her. 

"Yeah, yeah, this way!" Shouted someone nearby. "That way, buckos, they're up there!"

And before she knew what was going on, Snap (followed by a small militia of Zoners) were bursting through the doors, waving their weapons in the air angrily.

"Oh BLAST IT! Looks I had less time than I thought." Skrawl grumbled. He glanced up at the army, and then down at the boy he was choking. Hmm… _'Leave now, and I'll be okay. Get revenge, and I'll be torn to pieces.'_ _Safety, revenge. Safety, revenge._ He used his two spare arms to weigh the possibilities to himself. He took a quick glance up at the oncoming militia- and their sharp, pointed objects they were waving in the air. _'I like the idea of a safe haven right about now.'_

Hurriedly, Skrawl stuck his head through the "window" – "I'M OVER HERE, YOU FOOLS!" and, after hurling Rudy against the wall with as much violence as he could muster, he forced his entire body through the hole. Seconds after he started to fall, Craniac 3 and his escape module caught him in mid-air. Skrawl held on tightly to the top of the escape pod, shaking his free fist with a rage. "OH LITTLE GENIUS GIRL!" He shouted up at Penny. "Do you know what? I hope the great Master Tabootie is DEAD! Yes, DEAD! Because you know what?! Sooner or later, I'm going to kill him anyway!"

Penny, Snap, and the rest of the Zoners poked their heads through the hole in the wall, some of them having to stand atop the fallen Ksuyan just to get a look. Skrawl and Craniac 3 went zooming away, leaving nothing but a cloud of dust in their wake. Within seconds, they were completely out of sight.

"I can't believe it." Penny whispered. "All this, and he just got away."

"Relax, Penny. Everyone in ChalkZone's going to stay on the lookout for them. They'll get caught, don't worry." Snap didn't know why he was reassuring the girl he was supposed to dislike. But oh well, as long as everything was back to normal-

Well, not quite.

Penny and Snap both shot up in panic all in the same hundredth of a second- and ran over to Rudy. He was now completely still, and – his two friends noted with terror – there was a visible bloodied spot that stained his shirt all the way from his collarbone to the middle of his stomach. 

"I… I don't believe… Oh my god… I…" Penny was unable to finish her sentences. Trembling, she cautiously pressed an hand to his chest to see just how much he was bleeding- but as she removed her hand, it was coated with the stuff, and she flinched at the sight, quickly rubbing it off on the edge of her shirt. As if their clothing hadn't taken much of a beating already.

"Say, uh, Penny?" Snap didn't seem to know what was going on. "What's that… red stuff?"

Penny took a brief second to stare at him in amazement – at least, before she remembered that Snap, being made of dust, would have no way of knowing.

"It's blood, Snap." She told him, her voice wavering.

"Is it… bad?"

"It's what keeps us alive." Penny explained in a rush, glancing around the room for something- _anything_- that might help.

"You humans have a lot of things that keep you alive." Snap noted… before he realized exactly what it meant. "Wait a minute… Oh, great gumballs! Rudy, bucko, wake up!"

He lowered his gloved hands to shake the boy, but Penny acted quick, pushing Snap out of the way. "You can't touch him, Snap! Blood will dissolve chalk, like water and cheeseburger smoothies do! Now, we HAVE to find a way to get back to the real world as soon as possible! Rudy desperately needs help!"

Biclops, who had lumbered up to the top story (with some difficulty, but he'd made it eventually), spoke up. "That reminds me! I brought some magic chalk with me, in case you or Rudy needed some. Will that help?"

Penny sighed in slight relief. "Yes! Perfect!"

Biclops quickly approached her, crouched as low as he could, and opened his gargantuan fist, revealing the 8 or 9 sticks of chalk he'd brought. Penny hurriedly snatched it out of his hand, and although she wasn't quite as experienced as Rudy (or had an imagination nearly as active), she had a pretty good idea of how to get home. 

"You sure this is gonna work, Penny?" Snap asked.

"As long as no blood gets on the chalk, then, yes, I am quite positive." Penny was drawing while she spoke. "We have to get back to the real world now, and Snap, you can't come with us. I only hope Rudy will be alright…"

"And, uh, what happens if he isn't? I don't know much about you humans, although I don't _think_ you guys get redrawn when you… deteriorate."

"No, Snap. Humans die. That's it."

"They never come back?"

"No."

Snap, apparently, had not known this. After absorbing this information, the situation suddenly seemed a great deal more serious.

* * *

A/N: Woo. I'm on an updating spree! And yay, I'm almost done with the fanfic. Jump fer joy.


	10. Zoned Out

Space Cadet

A/N: Well, here you go: The final chapter. I'm still revamping a lot of parts in previous chapters, so it's not like I'm just forgetting about this fanfic… sigh… I wish I could though, having so many things to work on as it is. Thanks for your reviews, for the umpteenth time. I just can't thank you all enough. (even though I do it in like… every chapter, heheh)And so, I say… THANKYOU… And If I named all of you, it'd take a while. I'm just a little concerned that I might've made them (Rudy and Penny) feel a little too strongly about the other. I mean, they're still clueless 'tweens. But hey, it's not like a lemon or anything, right?! ...Urm… Oh god, bad mental images… _Bad, bad_ mental images. I've broken my own brain, and it's very painful…

Chapter 10 – Zoned Out

_Rudy opened his eyes slowly, taking a moment to observe his surroundings. He snapped fully awake when he realized where he was._

_Or rather, when he realized that he didn't know where he was._

_It looked exactly like blank and empty space. Onyx hues for miles around, with little twinkling balls of light in the distance. Stars? _Major weirdness_. He sat straight up, not quite knowing what exactly was going on. All that he could remember- a large, metal creature with glowing blue-ish white eyes rampaging towards him… that was when he'd forcefully shoved his friend away from him, the only thing he could find the strength to do while she only cowered in fear._

_…Penny. Was she okay?_

_He strained to remember. He'd woken up sometime after that, he recalled. Snap and Penny were huddled over him, gazing down at him with worried eyes. They both had looked fine at the time. But that still didn't explain why he was floating in space. _

_But back to more important matters. Had Penny and Snap made it out of the Dome of the Future? Had they made it out _alive_? And had they held his funeral yet?_

Janice, a young nurse, passed by Room 32A for the third time in twenty minutes. The boy in the bed was in a coma. According to the girl by his side, the only witness when he'd been injured, it'd been from a "terrible bicycling accident". Unfortunately, she had refused to say anymore, and Janice doubted that it was really the case. The boy had lost so much blood so fast, and his injuries were unlike that of any bicycling accident results the hospital had ever seen. 

He'd been in a coma for nearly two hours. She'd been there at his side for every second of every minute of those two hours. She looked so solemn and somber, sitting there, eyes constantly wide and alert, skipping a breath every time the heart monitor missed a beat. Of course, it would always get back to normal shortly afterwards, and she'd let loose the air built up inside of her in massive relief. Janice couldn't bear to watch any longer. She walked inside (for the door was ajar) and walked on over to the girl. She was Hispanic, with dark auburn hair that was almost brown. The first thing she noticed, however, were the girl's large red glasses. Yeah, they usually acted as a fair trait to distinguish her by.

"Hey," The nurse greeted. "You okay? You've been sitting here for 2 hours."

It took Penny a moment to comprehend that someone was even speaking to her. "I'm fine." She replied at last, not taking her eyes off of the hospital bed.

Janice took a seat in the chair next to Penny's. "If you took a break, I'd contact you as soon as he wakes up. I promise."

Penny lowered her head for a moment, keeping her gaze on Rudy's still form. He was still unmoving, as he had been for the past two and a half hours. But at least he was alive, as the heart monitors indicated. "I'm… I'm just afraid that… He might _not_ wake up."

Janice's associate, Ms. Winston, motioned for her from behind the door. They needed to tend to another patient. And so, the nurse rose to her feet once again, and briefly laid a hand on the girl's shoulder. "It'll be okay…" She whispered, before walking away.

Penny glanced up for the first time in those two hours as Janice left the room. There was no one around anymore. Sure, there was an occasional doctor or nurse roaming about the halls outside, but other than that, no one was paying any attention to them. Rudy had been given all the help he'd get. They were currently replacing all of the blood he'd lost (Luckily Penny had known his blood type).

The tears stung at her eyes. "Oh, Rudy."

_"Oh, Rudy." Rudy's head shot upright, as he searched for the origin of the voice. It was familiar, indeed._

_"Hello?" He glanced around urgently, trying to find whoever it was who'd called him by name. "Anyone?" He strained harder, looking in all directions, but still no luck. It was just a disembodied voice from nowhere._

"You've got to be alive, Rudy. You can't be gone… You just can't!"

_Who was that calling him!? He ran through the mental list of people he knew. The first name that came to mind matched up with the voice, and he wondered why he hadn't figured it out earlier. It was Penny. But where was she? She sounded nearby. "Penny? Where are you?"_

Penny's eyes quickly shot open. Rudy. He was mumbling in his sleep. And she was positive she'd heard her name. "Rudy? If you can hear me, I just want to say… I'm sorry for getting you into this." She didn't know why she was talking to someone who was clearly unconscious, especially since he'd obviously have no way of hearing her. He was probably off in his own little dreamland, not accepting the invitation back to reality. Hmm… It reminded her of Mr. Wilter's class earlier that week. Rudy was _always _in another dimension. She would've giggled at the thought had the situation been a little different.

_"Rudy? If you can hear me, I just want to say… I'm sorry for getting you into this." Yes, it was most definitely Penny. But where on Earth were they? And where was SHE? Rudy blinked, unsure._

The boy was twitching. Penny watched him, hopefully. He was alive. Maybe not conscious, but alive. She had to see it for herself. Maybe the active heart monitors gave her shreds of hope, but it was nothing like watching him move, for real. Maybe he'd even wake up. "Rudy! Wake up, Rudy!" She found herself pleading. She had a strange feeling he could hear her, but she wanted to make sure.

'Wake… up?' Rudy was baffled. 'Is this a dream? If so… where am I dreaming it? Have I dozed off again in Mr. Wilter's class? Was Penny's capture… and the dome of the future… And the Ksuyan… were they all part of this dream?'

"You're at the hospital." Penny told him. He flinched at the sound of her voice, and then he'd start moving a bit, he obviously heard what she was saying. Maybe he was just confused.  "You were just hit by the Ksuyan. Skrawl and the Craniacs got away. We're in the real world."

'All of that… It really happened? And I'm… actually alive?' He was shocked to hear this. He wanted to say something to her, but he couldn't, for suddenly he found himself unable to speak. Besides, if he just stayed quiet, maybe she'd keep answering his questions.

"I hope you can hear me, Rudy… If you can… Please wake up… Please…"

 Rudy now knew all of what was going on. He was asleep, or in a coma, at the hospital. In the real world. Penny was okay. But he just couldn't wake up. He tried to open his eyes, but in the alternate void he was trapped in, the only eyes he had were already open.

"Try, Rudy. You can do it." Back in the real world, Penny grabbed his hand between both of her own, watching his face for any sign of motion.

There was a pang, and suddenly, the world was back in color, and he could see Penny sitting before him…

And she saw his eyes open.

"Rudy! You're awake!" She exclaimed, excitedly, just as the boy moaned in pain. He was out of his coma, but it also introduced all of his real-world injuries.

"Hey, Penny." He murmured. His eyesight was still a little blurry, but at least he could actually _see_ again. "I'm… glad you're okay."

"You're glad I'M okay?!" Penny looked almost angry at him for the thought. "You get yourself crushed by the Ksuyan to protect me, get suffocated by an angry jellybean bent on revenge, nearly bleed to death, and now, after awakening of a two and a half hour coma, you hope _I'm_ the one who's okay?"

He gave a feeble nod, shrinking back into his pillow a little after watching her erupt.

She froze, suddenly upset at herself. "I'm sorry, Rudy." She finally murmured. "For everything. It's all my fault. I went into ChalkZone to see if you were okay and as a result, you barely made it out with your life."

Rudy nodded automatically- before he took in everything she said. "Wait… Wait a minute!" He huffed, eyes wide. "You came to ChalkZone to see if _I_ was okay?"

"Yes! You've been acting so strangely lately… no offense or anything… and I knew you'd tell Snap, so… I went off to ask him about it. That's when Skrawl grabbed me from behind." Penny sighed, staring down at the floor. "Rudy? Was it really bad enough to start this whole chain reaction?" She asked him at last, voice small.

"You mean…"

"Yes!" She interrupted. "You zoned out in class every day! You already owed five detentions by Tuesday! Of course I was worried about you!"

They both fell silent for a moment. The beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound coming from the room, other than the hustle and bustle of the doctors and nurses outside in the halls and the neighboring hospital rooms. 

Rudy blinked, somewhat guiltily. "Then, it's actually all _my_ fault."

"That's ridiculous!" She nearly snapped. "How can you blame yourself? You're the one in the hospital bed! If it's anyone's fault, it should be mine, bec-"

Rudy cut her off, grabbing her arm urgently. "Why are we arguing over something so stupid?" He asked, quietly. "We shouldn't go pointing the blame at ourselves… Okay, it happened. So what? I'll be out of the hospital by tomorrow."

"Make it next week." Penny corrected him.

The boy sighed. "Whatever… I'm just sorry that I made you worry about me, Penny. It was really nothing. I mean, heh-heh, nothing. Hardly anything at all!"

Penny smirked at him, hands on her hips. "You wouldn't mind telling me, then."

"NO!" He blurted abruptly, suddenly clutching the covers to his chest by automatic instinct. Penny, who was expecting a negative response but not one so LOUD, took a step backwards, alarmed.

"Calm down there, Rudy. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

The nurse, Janice, heard the noise outside, and poked her head inside for a moment to see what was going on. She smiled. The boy was awake, and both were talking. What a relief. "Hey, uh, kids." She interrupted. She couldn't help herself. But she had a message to deliver, anyway. "Your parents want to see you, Rudy." She knew his name, as he was the patient. "Should I let them in?"

Penny and Rudy looked at each other silently. Penny shrugged. "I'll leave, if you want me to. You know… incase you want to be alone with your parents… Or vice versa…"

Rudy shook his head. "Let them in a few minutes from now, okay, nurse?" He requested. "I need a bit more time."

"Okay."

Janice, sensing he was well enough to be left on his own, walked out of the room and closed the door behind her.

"What is it, Rudy? Your parents are probably very worried." Penny acknowledged.

Rudy glanced up at her, running a billion thoughts over in his head. He knew the next time he'd see Snap, the drawing would ask him the dreaded question. And it only reminded him… he still had to tell her.

"Penny…"

"Yes, Rudy?"

He drew in a deep breath, eyes closed, wondering about her response… and for some reason, he just couldn't say it. He exhaled slowly, cursing himself mentally. "Rudy?" She asked, quietly, wondering what he had to say.

"Penny… uh… You know… I don't know how to say this, but… I mean, it's really… I mean, I… I…"

The girl looked on over his shoulder patiently, waiting… Well, patiently, no. _'What, what, what?!' _She could come up with a thousand possible worse case scenarios, each worse than the last. She knew what she _wanted_ him to say, but he refused to say it, and the anxiety was driving her mad. 

He closed his mouth, unable of confessing, unknowing of what to say. His eyes rested on his bedcovers, and he sighed, disgruntled.

"This isn't easy." He mumbled.

"Rudy! Come on, Rudy. Whatever it is, I won't laugh. I won't tell _anyone_. Come on, _please_?" She looked up at him hopefully, about ready to pout. The boy was unsure of how to phrase his confession, 'cause it was having a hard time coming out.

"It's not that… I don't think you'd laugh." Rudy explained, painfully. Gathering up his courage again, he opened his mouth, but before any sound even passed through his lips, he closed it again. '_Maybe Snap was right. Maybe I'll never get it out without his help.'_

"Just tell me. Please." Penny begged. She wasn't used to begging from Rudy. He'd usually take her suggestions. Come to think of it…

He looked up at her, and in his eyes, Penny could see exactly what is was he wanted to say… 

…And she smiled. "Oh, Rudy, is that all?" It was easier to read his eyes than it was his thoughts. It was amazing how much you could learn from green dots on the front of someone's head. 

Rudy stared up at her, amazed. Had she really read him that fast? Had she read him _correctly_? He sat up in bed, unsure. _'Does she know?'_ He looked at her eyes for confirmation. She was blushing, indeed, trying to avoid eye contact. She seemed halfway between flattered and nervous. Now, he'd been dragged along to enough romance movies to know what this meant. _'Oh… yeah. She knows.' _He felt himself blush from the very thought, but he hoped it wasn't too visible. 

"Is it true, Rudy? Come on, say it." She said it quietly, but to his ears, it sounded like a command.

"Yes." He murmured, silently, looking away. Of course, he was still a bit distracted from the wires in his right arm. He glanced down at them, for the first time, feeling a bit squirmish.

"Say _it_." She persisted. "I… want to make sure we're talking about the same thing."

And when Rudy finally confessed, it was said in an exhale, without even taking a deep, preparatory breath before it. He glanced down at the floor, suddenly finding it easier to say if he didn't make eye contact. "I love you." He finally admitted, his voice somewhat of a whisper, staring down at the carpeted ground.

She saw it coming, but it shocked her all the same, and she wanted to know if she was hearing correctly. "Excuse me?"

_'Again?!'_ He thought desperately. "I. Love. You. Penny. Sanchez." He said slowly, not annoyed, just exhausted. She already knew. "I'm just… sorry I didn't tell you earlier. Then we never would've gotten into this mess."

He closed his eyes again, falling back into the pillow, clenching his eyes shut. _'I just said it. She knows. Oh god, she knows.'_

"I love you, too."

He opened one eye. "Wha-? Say that again?"

Penny sighed. "I. Love. You. Rudy. Tabootie." She repeated, almost mocking his tone of voice from when he had said it. She couldn't help it. She even laughed nervously, wondering how he'd take it. "I mean… Y-yes. I… Yes." 

Rudy sat up again, staring at her incredulously. "R-Really?" He asked again.

Penny rolled her eyes, smiling widely. "But of course. Do you think I'd lie to you?"

"Well…" He pretended to be deep in thought for a moment, but the hurt look in her eyes threw him off. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" He assured her, throwing his arms up in front of him. 

There was an awkward silence as they both stared at the other, thinking the same thing, but simultaneously fearing it.

"Penny…?" He looked to her questioningly. She nodded.

Janice walked to Room 32A, with aims to check on Rudy. His parents were starting to become worried, impatient to see their son. And so, she opened the door, casually glancing down at her clipboard.

"Rudy? Your parents are-"

She gasped, nearly dropping her clipboard at the sight. The boy had his left arm snaked around the girl's neck, and she in turn was holding him around the rib cage, careful as to not irritate his injuries. And, finally, both were joined at the lips, eyes closed, looking completely at peace. Now, poor Janice had never before had she seen such a situation between kids so young. Teenagers, sometimes, but… 

Rudy and Penny, sensing something was wrong, quickly pulled away from each other, took a look towards the nurse, and, blushing immensely, quickly looked in opposite directions. "Uh…" Janice took a step backwards. "Well, Rudy… um… Should I tell your parents to wait a few more minutes?" 

**THE END…**

Almost.

About four hours later, in ChalkZone, Snap tried to calm himself as he made his way to Rapsheeba's front door. Thanks to Rudy's portable chalkboard (which, upon his request, his parents had brought to the hospital), he had been able to talk to them both (in secrecy, of course). Now that Rudy had fessed up… Snap was facing his own dilemma.

He'd taunted Rudy day and night about his infatuation with his best friend, when, in reality, Snap found it difficult to do the exact same thing to _his_ crush.

"Okay, here goes the plan." He told himself. "Knock on door. Say something. Wait for her to say something. Say something else. Wait for her to say something. Repeat as nessecary." He smiled to himself. "I can remember that."

But as he stood on her doorstep, he couldn't even remember step number one. Luckily, Rapsheeba had seen him coming from her view through her window, and so, she made her way over to the door and opened it.

"Hi there, Snap. How are the creators doing?" She asked, her voice lined with concern.

"Rudy's just fine! And Penny too. They're both great! Rudy'll be back in a week or so." Snap blabbed. _'Stick to plan.'_ He reminded himself.

"Well, that's just great. What do you need?" Rapsheeba asked, leaning against the pane of her door, smiling. Snap couldn't find his voice. He tried to remember why he HAD come over, but… nothing turned up.

"Gee… heheh… I don't remember." He wondered how stupid he sounded as he said it.

She raised a brow, not expecting this, apparently.

"WAIT! Oh yeah! I just wanted to thank you. You know, for saving our lives." Snap silently thanked the ChalkLord as he started to recall the dialogue in his carefully planned-out conversation with Rapsheeba. "So, uh… thanks." And with that, he protruded an expertly-arranged bouquet of ChalkFlowers out from behind his back. Two-lips, Taffydils, Lie Lacks and all kinds of things he'd found growing around ChalkZone. Rapsheeba gasped, taking them from his arms carefully. "Why, Snap! They're beautiful!" She fingered them gently, smiling gratefully. "Thank _you_!"

Snap flushed deeply – "Glad you like them, Queen!" – and took a step back, one foot behind the other, a little shy (which, you have to realize, is a big change for Snap). "Well, um… It's a Thursday. Wanna head down to the Fireplug Ballet? They're about to start!"

Rapsheeba took a moment to think. She typically had a busy schedule, but most of the Zoners were still out-of-whack from the assault on the dome anyway. She could take some time off. "Of course! Wouldn't miss it." And she tagged along at his side as he sprinted off to old NightZone Park.

**OKAY, _NOW_ IT'S THE END. **

A/N – Use your imagination. ^^; 


End file.
